Bees

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the increased costs to beekeepers resulting from adoption of the EC directive 2004/28 regarding the supply of veterinary products and inspections; and what discussions she has had with British beekeepers on this matter.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 30 June 2005
	Directive 2004/28/EC amends directive 2001/82/EC, which sets out requirements for the authorisation and control of veterinary medicines. It was published by the European Commission on 30 April 2004 following a major review of EU medicines legislation. Member states are required to implement its provisions by 30 October 2005.
	During negotiations in Brussels, a requirement to restrict the distribution of veterinary medicinal products for food producing animals, including honeybees, to prescription supply was presented with the intention of strengthening the control of these medicines and related consumer safeguards. While there are valid reasons for restricting some veterinary medicines to prescription supply, we do not consider this appropriate for all medicines for use in food-producing animals. Neither the commission nor the majority of member states supported the UK view and the requirement was consequently taken forward in the amending directive. We are aware that this provision has the potential to increase the costs to beekeepers of obtaining medicines by incurring additional veterinary charges.
	However, the UK successfully negotiated the inclusion of a provision that allows medicines that meet certain criteria, to be agreed subsequently, to be exempt from the prescription requirement. This provision also allows the current distribution arrangements to remain until a list of exemption criteria is agreed, or until January 2007 if no list has been agreed by then. This exemption list is to be proposed by the commission and voted on by the member states. Officials at the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) are well aware of the concerns expressed by beekeepers and continue to argue strongly for medicines authorised for use in bees to be included on this list. The commission has not yet proposed a list and it may be some time before the outcome is known.
	In addition to pressing for bee medicines to be exempted from the prescription requirement, we have proposed new distribution categories for the UK that include tiered categories of prescription only medicines (ROMs). If adopted, these will comply with the directive's provisions while allowing veterinary medicines for food-producing animals that are currently available without prescription to continue to be supplied by pharmacists or registered merchants without the need to involve a veterinary surgeon.
	VMD officials are working closely with beekeeper representatives and are making arrangements for the beekeepers to speak to a meeting of EU medicines regulators under the UK presidency.

Energy Efficiency

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will use the UK presidency of the European Council to promote responses to the new European Commission Green Paper on energy efficiency.

Elliot Morley: The Government welcomes the publication of the European Commission's Green Paper on Energy Efficiency, "Doing More With Less". The priority which the Commission is attaching to this important initiative is entirely consistent with our own aims and objectives under the UK presidency. We are sure that the Green Paper will act as an important catalyst for action on energy efficiency issues and recognition of its importance in tackling climate change and hope that the process will lead to an ambitious plan of action.
	Under the UK presidency, the Government will therefore look to pro-actively encourage responses to the Green Paper as part of the wider public debate on energy efficiency which the Commission have launched. We are already in discussion with the Commission about hosting an internationally focused energy efficiency event drawing on the European Commission Green Paper as well as the experience and knowledge of a wide cross section of international experts and we will also look to encourage the debate in other fora.

Flood Protection

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance the Environment Agency has issued on single-storey development in areas susceptible to flooding; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: I understand the Environment Agency has not itself issued any specific national guidance on single-storey development in areas susceptible to flooding. However, it has worked closely with the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA), who have recently issued guidance on the development of bungalows and single-storey dwellings in areas at risk of flooding, as part of CIRIA Guidance "Development and flood risk—Guidance to the construction industry".
	Government policy for effective national management of flood risk is to avoid inappropriate development in areas at risk. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Planning Policy Guidance Note 25 "Development and Flood Risk" cautions planning authorities to take particular care in respect of proposed single-storey developments behind existing sea defences because of the speed of flooding in such circumstances combined with no means of escape to an upper floor.

London Sewer Rats

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the local authorities which responded to the consultation on the London Sewer Rat Joint Working Protocol.

Elliot Morley: The Local Government Association (LGA) and Water UK published a joint protocol in 1999 which set out arrangements for a closer working relationship between local authorities and water companies in England and Wales on the issue of rat infestation of sewers. Department records list that the following authorities responded to the survey on the effectiveness of the Protocol:
	Adur district council
	Basildon district council
	Birmingham city council
	Bournemouth borough council
	Braintree district council
	Brentwood borough council
	Brighton and Hove city council
	Bromsgrove district council
	Calderdale council
	Cannock Chase council
	Castle Point borough council
	Cheltenham borough council
	Chiltern district council
	Copeland borough council
	Corby borough council
	Coventry city council
	Craven district council
	Dacorum district council
	Durham council
	East Cambridgeshire district council
	East Dorset district council
	East Northamptonshire council
	Eastleigh council
	Elmbridge borough council
	Enfield council
	Erewash district council
	Fenland district council
	Gravesham council
	Guildford borough council
	Hambleton council
	Harrogate borough council
	Harrow borough council
	Havany borough council
	Havering borough council
	Herefordshire district council
	Hounslow borough council
	Hull city council
	Huntingdonshire district council
	Isle of Wight council
	Macclesfield borough council
	Maldon district council
	Manchester city council
	Mansfield district council
	Mid Bedfordshire council
	Mid Devon district council
	Middlesbrough council
	New Forest district council
	Newcastle Under Lyme borough council
	Newham borough council
	North Somerset council
	North Wiltshire district council
	Peterborough council
	Preston city council
	Richmondshire district council
	Rugby borough council
	Rushcliffe borough council
	Sedgefield borough council
	Sedgemoor district council
	Shrewsbury and Atcham borough council
	Shropshire county council
	South Derbyshire district council
	South Gloucestershire council
	South Northamptonshire council
	Tandridge district council
	Tonbridge and Malling borough council
	Trafford Metropolitan borough council
	Uttlesford district council
	Wakefield Metropolitan district council
	Warwick district council
	Waveney council
	West Lancashire district council
	Weymouth and Portland borough council
	Winchester city council
	Worthing borough council

Packaging

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will take further steps to encourage companies to reduce the amount of packaging goods are sold in.

Ben Bradshaw: The are currently two sets of Regulations which cover packaging in the UK; both of which encourage producers to minimise packaging. The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended) are intended to increase the recovery and recycling of packaging waste. The amount of packaging waste producers have to recover and recycle is determined, in part, by the amount of packaging they handle. Producers can therefore save money if they use less packaging. The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2003 (as amended) place a number of requirements on all packaging placed on the market in the UK, including a requirement that packaging should be manufactured so that the packaging volume and weight are limited to the minimum adequate amount to maintain the necessary level of safety, hygiene and acceptance for the packed product and for the consumer.
	Both Regulations have led to decreases in the amount of packaging used around products. However, more still needs to be done to reduce the amount of packaging that is produced in the first place. The Government's Advisory Committee on Packaging is working with industry to find ways of encouraging businesses to further reduce the amount of packaging they use.
	Although legislation is one way of reducing packaging consumers also have a part to play. For example, if consumers made a point of choosing goods that are not heavily packaged, or bought 'loose food' rather than pre-packaged, or used their own shopping bags or boxes, manufacturers would be more inclined to reduce the quantity of packaging on their products.

River Thames

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the estimated number of fish in the River Thames was in each year since 1997.

Ben Bradshaw: The Environment Agency and its predecessor organisations have performed a biannual qualitative fisheries survey on the tidal River Thames since 1992. However, the dynamic nature of estuaries, with highly mobile and widely dispersed fish populations means that no quantitative data is available to estimate fish numbers using currently available methodologies. This is the case throughout Europe for estuarine fish populations. Recent EC FAIR (June 2000) research 1 identified our current fisheries monitoring programme as 'Best Practice'. The primary objective of this survey programme is to provide a consistent data set to detect trends and new species in the Thames.
	1 European Commission FAIR report, "Commercial Fish and European Estuaries—Priorities for Management and Research". Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, June 2000.

Water Leaks

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much leakage from the mains water supply in London there has been in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Director General of Water Services publishes leakage figures annually in the "Security of Supply, Leakage and the Efficient Use of Water" report. Ofwat will publish the figures for 2004–05 in July and the formal report towards the end of 2005.
	Ofwat do not publish leakage figures for the London area. However data are available for Thames Water's area of supply, which covers London and other areas. Total Thames Water leakage, in megalitres per day, for the last five years was reported as follows:
	
		
			  Ml/d 
		
		
			 1999–2000 662 
			 2000–01 688 
			 2001–02 865 
			 2002–03 943 
			 2003–04 946

Criminal Offences

John Penrose: To ask the Solicitor-General what procedures (a) Government Departments and agencies and (b) local authorities with independent prosecuting authority for criminal offences use to forward details of convictions, cautions and intelligence on possible criminals to (i) the Criminal Records Bureau and (ii) the Police National Computer; what amendments to these procedures are proposed in relation to the National Intelligence Database; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Aviation Ministers

Chris Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list aviation Ministers since May 1997, indicating the dates between which they held office.

Karen Buck: There is no post designated as "aviation Minister". My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had responsibility for all forms of transport, including aviation, since the formation of the Department on 29 May 2002. He has been supported by other members of his ministerial team.

Heathrow

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the effects on aircraft noise over Hammersmith and Fulham if the proposed third runway is built at Heathrow.

Karen Buck: Noise exposure estimates for the larger UK airports—including Heathrow with a possible third runway—were published in December 2003 to support the Air Transport White Paper and are in the document "Revised Future Aircraft Noise Exposure Estimates for UK Airports", ERCD report 0308, available on the Department's website. They will be reviewed as necessary in the light of further work in hand to assess the prospects for future development at Heathrow, consistent with the conditions laid down in the White Paper.
	The document does not attempt to assess noise impacts by individual London borough, but it includes an explanation of the methodology, figures for households and area affected at different noise levels, and diagrams to illustrate the Leq daytime contours for Heathrow under maximum use of the existing two runways and with a short third runway at various traffic levels.

Maritime Coastguard Agency

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment he has made of staffing levels at the Maritime Coastguard Agency; what steps he is taking to improve skill levels in the organisation; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency performs to a high standard and has the resources it needs for the functions it carries out. The Chief Executive and his Management Team keep the skills of staff under review as part of the Agency's approach to learning and development. Specifically in relation to those working in coastguard rescue co-ordination centres, the Agency uses a concept of "Training Ahead of Need" for Coastguard Watch Assistants aspiring to be Watch Officers, which has the support of the PCS Union. Peer reviews are also used to test, develop and support the core skills of search planning and co-ordination.

Road Traffic Accidents

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of road traffic accidents occurred on or near to the calibration lines of speed cameras in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Stephen Ladyman: The specific information requested is not available. The latest published information on the national safety camera programme—"Three year evaluation report", carried out by University College London and PA Consulting Group, found that there had been a 40 per cent. reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured at camera sites, and a 33 per cent. reduction in the total number of personal injury collisions at camera sites. The report was published in June 2004 and copies are available in the Library and from the Department's website.

Shipping

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much shipping tonnage is registered in the United Kingdom.

Stephen Ladyman: The tonnage of trading vessels of 100 gt and over registered in the United Kingdom at the end of March 2005 was 10.4 million in gross tons and 10.9 million in deadweight tonnes.

Baghdad Museum

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on missing and damaged Iraqi artefacts; when she expects the Baghdad Museum to be fully open; and if she will make a statement.

Tessa Jowell: The scale of the looting of artefacts was thankfully not as devastating as originally thought. Recent estimates suggest that around 3,000 items were taken, although the lack of inventories makes precise calculations impossible. Of the items taken, 30 or so are considered to be highly significant, and the British Museum have suggested that around half of these artefacts have now been recovered.
	Due to the continued security concerns, there are currently no immediate plans to reopen the museum. The decision on when to open the museum is one for the Iraqi authorities.

Casinos

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether there will be a right of appeal against (a) the advisory panel's recommendation and (b) the Secretary of State's decision on the location of new (a) small, (b) large and (c) regional casinos.

Richard Caborn: The Gambling Act 2005 does not provide for a right of appeal in either of the circumstances specified.
	The Secretary of State's order making powers under Section 175(4) of the Gambling Act 2005 are subject to the affirmative resolution procedure. Both Houses of Parliament will have to approve her order before it takes effect.
	The panel is a purely advisory body to provide advice to the Secretary of State on the exercise of her powers, and as such it would be inappropriate for there to be a right of appeal.

Licensing Act

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the impact of the Licensing Act 2003 and related regulations requiring a single individual to take legal responsibility for all licensed events at a particular village hall during a 12-month period; and what representations she has received concerning this issue.

James Purnell: Concern has been expressed to DCMS by village halls as to the duties of an individual who is specified on a premises licence as the designated premises supervisor (DPS). The role of a DPS only applies when a premises licence authorises the supply of alcohol. It is not relevant in respect of other licensable activities such as regulated entertainment. While the DPS has certain responsibilities under the 2003 Act, it is important that this is kept in perspective. The main purpose of having a DPS is to provide a primary point of contact for authorities investigating problems, and to ensure that any necessary preventative measures are taken to promote the licensing objectives.
	For example, we have clarified that the DPS does not have to be physically present at the premises for sales of alcohol to take place there. In addition, regular users can take out their own premises licence with their own named DPS or other hirers could be asked to use temporary event notices and there would therefore be no need to have a DPS for those events.
	These arrangements are important in the interests of those living near village halls. It is vital that there is a proper balance between the needs of local residents and of those conducting licensable activities at such halls. We believe that the Act strikes the correct balance, but we continue to discuss with representatives of village halls in ways in which the burdens involved can be best managed.

Olympic Bid 2012

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what safeguards are in place to ensure that local community sporting initiatives are not adversely affected by the London 2012 Olympic bid.

Tessa Jowell: Government and lottery investment in local community sporting initiatives is not dependent on the outcome of the London 2012 bid. On the contrary, we expect the bid, if successful, to provide a major boost to sports participation in this country, a strong legacy of facilities which will benefit the whole of the UK and to inspire the next generation of young people to greater sporting activity and help foster a healthy and active nation.

Special Advisers

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list (a) the special advisers in her Department, (b) their specific areas of expertise and (c) the total cost of employing them in the latest year for which figures are available.

David Lammy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to my hon. Friend the Member for St. Helens, North (Mr. Watts) on 22 July 2004, Official Report, columns 466–70W. Information on special advisers for 2004–05 is currently being collated and will be published in the normal way before the summer recess.

Royal Prerogative

Paul Burstow: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 15 June 2005, Official Report, column 384W, to the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen), on the Royal Prerogative, what the most commonly exercised powers under the Royal Prerogative are.

Michael Meacher: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the occasions on which each prerogative power has been exercised by the holder of his office in the last 30 years.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Members to the memorandum from the Treasury Solicitor's Department (MPP09(a) ) in the report by the Public Administration Select Committee "Taming the Prerogative: Strengthening Ministerial Accountability to Parliament" (HC 422). Copies are available in the Libraries of the House.

Special Advisers

Bob Spink: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list (a) the special advisers in his Office, (b) their specific areas of expertise and (c) the total cost of employing them in the latest year for which figures are available.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for St. Helens, North (Mr. Watts) on 22 July 2004, Official Report, columns 466–70W. Information on special advisers for 2004–05 is currently being collated, and this will be published in the normal way once it has been completed.

Iraq

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the amount and type of ordnance dropped on Iraq by RAF aircraft was in (a) November 2002, (b) December 2002, (c) January 2003 and (d) February 2003.

John Reid: holding answer 28 June 2005
	RAF aircraft used Paveway laser-guided precision bombs in Iraq over this period, while policing the no-fly zones. 16 Paveways were dropped by UK aircraft in November 2002; 24 in December 2002; four in January 2003; and five in February 2003.

Africa (Peace-building)

Michael Jabez Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role his Department has played in strengthening African peace-building capabilities.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence's contribution to the strengthening of African peace-building capability mainly focuses on peace support training of African armed forces and mentoring and advisory functions through its permanently deployed training teams and liaison officers. For example, at present, 10 Defence Attachés and around 120 British armed forces personnel are based in Sub-Saharan Africa to assist in these tasks. Additionally, there are around 25 personnel seconded to UN missions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Africa (Peace-building)

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what role his Department plays in strengthening African peace-building capabilities.

Adam Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave earlier today to my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Michael Jabez Foster).

Armed Forces Personnel

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel applied to take up appointments with defence industry companies in (a) 2003 and (b) 2004, broken down by rank; and how many of the applications were accepted in each case.

Don Touhig: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 28 June 2005, Official Report, column 1394, to the right hon. and learned Member for Devizes (Mr. Ancram).

EU Military Bodies

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list staff on secondment to EU military bodies, broken down by grade.

Don Touhig: There are currently 13 UK military personnel seconded to the EU military staff: one brigadier, one colonel, nine lieutenant colonels or equivalent, one warrant officer, and one flight sergeant.
	There is one UK commander seconded as a military assistant to the Chairman of the EU Military Committee.
	There are currently no UK civilian staff seconded to EU military bodies.

Military Costs (Afghanistan/Middle East)

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the costs of military involvement in (a) Afghanistan and (b) the Middle East since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence identifies the costs of operations in terms of the net additional costs it has incurred. Additional costs for larger operations are identified separately and are published each year in the MOD's annual report and accounts, which are available in the Library of the House.
	On this basis, the additional costs of military operations in Afghanistan and the middle east from 2001 are:
	
		
			£ million 
			  Afghanistan Gulf Iraq (OpTelic) 
		
		
			 2001–02 221 61 — 
			 2002–03 311 45 847 
			 2003–04 46 — 1,311 
		
	
	The additional costs of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2004–05 will be published this autumn in the MOD's 2004–05 departmental report and accounts.

Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many and what percentage of staff in his Department have received training on the general and specific duties of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, broken down by (a) ethnicity and (b) grade.

John Hutton: A programme of training on the general and specific duties of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 was provided to Cabinet Office senior managers when the first Race Equality Scheme was produced in 2002. Further training and advice has followed as senior management teams have changed.
	Detailed records of those who attended the training in 2002 have not been kept. However, as at 1 April 2002 when the training was being delivered, the grades (pay bands) and ethnicity of all staff in the Department at the targeted grades are shown in the table.
	
		Number and ethnic origin of staff in the SCS and at band A as at 1 April 2002
		
			  Asian Black Mixed ethnic origin Other ethnic origin White 
		
		
			 Senior civil servant * * * * 131 
			 Band A * * * * 367 
			 Total 13 6 * * 498 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. As per civil service statistical convention, figures between 0 and 5 and those from which figures between 0 and 5 could be calculated are asterisked (*) to avoid identification of individuals.
	2. Response rate to the ethnic origin questionnaire at Senior Civil Servant level was 83 per cent. and at band A level 90 per cent.
	In addition to specific training on the Act, diversity and equality issues are covered in the Department's management development programmes.
	The Department is currently undertaking a detailed review of its Race Equality Scheme which includes how it trains staff in the duties of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act. The revised scheme will be published in September 2005.

Work-related Stress

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many cases of work-related stress have been reported in his Department in each of the last three years; how much compensation was paid to employees in each year; how many work days were lost due to work-related stress in each year; at what cost; what procedures have been put in place to reduce work-related stress; at what cost; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: Work-related stress is recorded if it results in absence from work. The Cabinet Office figures are available from 1 April 2003 and set out in the table. There may be cases of work-related stress that do not result in an absence but that information is not recorded.
	No compensation has been claimed or paid to employees in the last three years.
	
		
			  Number of individuals Working days lost Cost of working days lost 
		
		
			 1 April-31 December 2003 (4)Less than 5 (4)n/a (4)n/a 
			 1 January-31 December 2004 8 107 11,183 
			 1 January 2005 to date (4)Less than 5 (4)n/a (4)n/a 
		
	
	(4) To protect the privacy of individuals details have not been provided. This is in accordance with statistical conventions, which recommend that records of 5 or less should not be published.
	The Cabinet Office has a number of procedures in place to reduce stress at work. A stress management framework based on the Health and Safety Executive's Management Standards was launched in February 2005 and is available on the Department's intranet site. Stress management workshops were organised to explain the framework to managers and employees, and the framework is covered in the Department's on-going health and safety training.
	The well-being of employees is important to the Department and it supports them in managing their work life balance. In addition to leave entitlements the Department offers child care support and, where possible, it encourages flexible working arrangements. An on-site gym is available to employees in London, and health awareness initiatives are run from time to time.
	The Department is also committed to creating a supportive working environment that is free from any form of harassment and bullying. All complaints are taken seriously and individuals have access to a confidential network of Harassment Contact Officers which is in addition to Department's counselling service.
	Information on the individual costs of these initiatives could be obtained but only at disproportionate cost.

Advantage West Midlands

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much has been provided by Advantage West Midlands for each regeneration zone in the West Midlands in each year since they were established.

Alun Michael: There have been a number of changes to the way the Government requires AWM to report on it's spend. There was no geographic analysis of figures spent by Advantage West Midlands prior to 2002–03, when the Government changed the way they expect Regional Development Agency's to report on their spending.
	The following figures cover 2002–03, 2003–04 and also 2004–05, although the figures for 2004–05 have not yet been audited.
	
		
			  2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Coventry and Nuneaton 19,019 13,675 12,359 
			 East Birmingham and North Solihull 17,600 40,580 66,980 
			 North Black Country and South Staffs 23,596 36,684 39,582 
			 South Black Country and West  Birmingham 27,430 25,223 25,517 
			 North Staffordshire 16,031 20,825 19,880 
			 Rural 15,437 15,731 25,045 
			 Expenditure Outside Regeneration  Zones 88,664 111,720 53,774 
			 Region Wide 15,055 26,292 57,006 
			 Total 222,832 290,730 300,143

Air Travellers (Financial Protection)

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of consumers' understanding of financial protection schemes for air travellers; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with consumer groups on financial protection schemes for air travellers; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the UK's ability to meet its obligations under the Package Travel Directive if major tour operators move their business outside the Air Travel Organisers' Licence scheme.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Air Travel Organisers' Licence (ATOL) regulations use the same definition of "package" as the Package Travel Directive and the UK regulations which implement the Directive to define their coverage in respect of package travel organisers. Any tour operator which provides flight-based packages has no choice but to hold an ATOL or to be acting for a disclosed principal which holds an ATOL. If a tour operator were to legally operate outside of the ATOL scheme they would need to alter their products in such a way that they no longer constituted a package. Since the definition in the ATOL Regulations and the Directive is the same, it follows that if a product falls outside of one it will fall outside of the other and the UK would have no obligations under the Directive in respect of that business.
	I am very aware of the views of consumer representatives' on this high profile issue for the leisure travel sector. I understand they have made those views known to both the Civil Aviation Authority and the Department for Transport as they consider the arguments for change to the current regime.
	The Civil Aviation Authority has undertaken extensive work in order to assess consumers' understanding of financial protection in this market. This assessment was reported in the CAA's advice to the Government (Financial Protection for Air Travellers and Package Holiday Makers in the Future, CAA Advice to Government, July 2004) and in their consultation document of July 2003. These reported the results of their consultation with consumer organisations and also the results of research carried out for the CAA into customer expectations and their perceptions of protection in the holiday market (Financial Protection for Air Holiday, Final Report: NFO Transport and Tourism). These documents and reports are available at www.atol.org.uk.

Carbon Sequestration

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the potential for carbon sequestration in the North sea oil fields.

Malcolm Wicks: The British Geological Survey have estimated that the North sea oil fields have a capacity to store some 5.8 gigatonnes of CO 2 . The publication "Review of the Feasibility of Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage in the UK" published in September 2003 provides further information on the potential for storage in North sea's gas fields and aquifers.

Consultants

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has to issue guidance on effective commissioning for those in the public and voluntary sectors who are commissioning work from external consultants.

Alan Johnson: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Financial Secretary on 27 June 2005, Official Report, column 1286W.
	For my own Department comprehensive guidance to staff on the effective commissioning of Consultancy and Professional Services was issued to all staff via the DTI intranet in 2004. A pamphlet "A Brief Guide to Engaging Consultants" was published in January 2005 and was distributed to all staff in DTI London offices. Specific Budgeting and Accounting Guidance has also been issued to all Director Generals and their finance staff.

Defence Industrial Capability

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what aspects of defence industrial capability he is seeking to develop.

Alun Michael: The Department of Trade and Industry is working closely with the Ministry of Defence to establish a defence industrial strategy. This strategy will be aimed at prioritising the importance to the UK of defence industrial capabilities in all sectors.

Energy Strategy

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has for his Department to conduct a review of the Government's energy strategy.

Malcolm Wicks: The Government remain committed to the framework for energy policy, set out in the Energy White Paper. In the White Paper we made a commitment to keep our progress toward our energy policy goals under review, for example through the work of the Joint Energy Security of Supply Working Group. Another example is the Climate Change Programme Review, which is already showing that we will need to do more to reach our domestic goal for carbon reductions and we are considering the options for addressing this.

Exhibitions and Seminars Abroad

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 21 June 2005, Official Report, column 897W, on the Exhibitions and Seminars Abroad scheme, whether UK Trade and Investment plans to include mounting UK pavilions which will be eligible to all exporters in its Support for Exhibitions and Seminars Abroad scheme in 2006–07; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: UK Trade and Investment will work with Accredited Trade Organisations to draw up a programme of overseas exhibitions, including UK pavilions. Participation in such groups will be open to all UK companies. Grant support will be limited to small and medium sized enterprises who are new to exporting.

Export Control Organisation

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will place in the Library the reports submitted by ASE Consulting in relation to its review of the Export Control Organisation's services.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 29 June 2005
	I have arranged for a copy of the final report released under the Freedom of Information Act to be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Liberalisation

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what position the United Kingdom will take on liberalisation of (a) agricultural markets, (b) non-agricultural markets and (c) service industries in developing countries at the World Trade Organisation General Council meeting on 27 July 2005.

Ian Pearson: The agenda has yet to be set for the World Trade Organisation General Council meeting on 27 July 2005. The European Commission speaks on behalf of the EU at these meetings. The United Kingdom will continue to work for a pro-development outcome across all the dossiers of the Doha development agenda, as set out in our White Paper "Making Globalisation a Time for Good".

North West (Economy)

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government are taking to strengthen the regional economy of the north west following the redundancies announced by Lappett Manufacturing Company Ltd.; and what assistance the Government will provide to those who have lost their jobs.

Alun Michael: The job losses announced by Lappett Manufacturing Company are regrettable but I understand this is a commercial decision in the light of strong international competition. Support for those losing their jobs is available from Jobcentre Plus who can assist them in seeking other opportunities (including on retraining) as well as providing benefit advice.
	Much is happening to help strengthen the north west economy. In particular the North West Development Agency has supported a range of initiatives and is working with partners across the region to deliver the regional economic strategy. It is also now working with the other northern regions to take forward the northern way growth strategy. These initiatives are contributing to improving business competitiveness and productivity, strengthening the regions skills base and providing the right environment to retain and attract investment.
	Initiatives include a cluster development programme to develop strong clusters around growth sectors, a major manufacturing sector project, 'Agenda for Change', providing intensive business support, a realignment of business support services and workforce development to achieve greater business productivity, provision of technology support facilities, including the Lancashire Technology Management, and supply chain programmes.
	Despite the recent losses, unemployment in the north west is now 2.4 per cent. compared to 6.6 per cent. in 1995, and I am encouraged by the progress that is being made. I applaud the energy and commitment in the region to ensure the significant resources available are used to the maximum effect.

Oil and Gas Imports

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the potential consequences for the UK's energy security of continued reliance on imported oil and natural gas.

Malcolm Wicks: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will make a report on security of supply to Parliament in July. This will include an assessment of the consequences of the UK becoming increasingly dependent on imported sources of fuel.
	Import dependency is not necessarily a threat to energy security. Oil and—currently to a lesser extent—gas are internationally traded commodities. All countries, whether import-dependent or not, have a common interest in promoting open markets and predictable prices. Most other advanced industrial economies already import significant proportions of their energy needs without noticeable disruption.

Post Office Services (Amington)

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when Post Office Ltd. will write to the hon. Member for Tamworth regarding provision of post office services in Amington, as promised in the written answer of 7 April 2005, Official Report, column 1633W.

Barry Gardiner: Post Office Ltd. makes every effort to issue replies to hon. Members within five working days of receiving our request for information. It would appear that due to an administrative error my hon. Friend's question was not passed on to Mr. Mills' office at Post Office Ltd. for a direct reply. This has now been done and a response will be sent direct to my hon. Friend within the next few days.

Public Telephone Boxes

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what arrangements are made for public consultation in respect of decisions to remove public telephone boxes.

Alun Michael: The matter raised is the responsibility of the Office of Communications (Ofcom) as independent regulator. Accordingly, DTI officials have asked the Chief Executive of Ofcom to respond directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the Chief Executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House and I shall also see a copy of the letter.

Royal Mail

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions he has had with the Royal Mail about delivery of mail in Essex.

Barry Gardiner: DTI Ministers and officials meet with representatives from Royal Mail on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of issues, including delivery performance issues.
	We are pleased to see that Royal Mail's quality of service has improved overall over the past year. We have received assurances from Allan Leighton and Adam Crozier that the board will continue to give quality of service top priority.

TUPE

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when he will publish new guidelines for TUPE arrangements covering the movement of public sector workers into the private sector.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Government are currently revising the TUPE regulations and expects to lay them before Parliament in the autumn to come into effect on 6 April 2006. Guidance on the application of these new regulations will be issued later in the year.
	Transfers of staff from the public sector to the private sector are covered by a Statement of Practice issued by the Cabinet Office in 2000 entitled "Staff Transfers in the Public Sector", which will be revised, as required, in the light of the revised TUPE regulations. Staff in public sector transfers involving local government contracting are covered by the provisions of the Local Government Bill.

Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate the Government have made of the cost to local councils of the implementation of the waste electrical and electronic equipment directive.

Malcolm Wicks: Local authorities have no specific obligations under the forthcoming WEEE implementing regulations although their established role in relation to domestic waste collection means they will be involved in the practical implementation. The Department is encouraging local authorities to participate in the system it is establishing to implement the WEEE directive, which will build on the existing contact and awareness householders have with their local civic amenity sites.

Electoral Registration

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will assess the implications of the experience of the introduction of single registration in Northern Ireland for voter registration in the rest of the UK, with particular reference to those council wards that are experiencing under-registration; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: We are currently considering how the electoral registration system in Great Britain might be improved both to improve security and increase access. We intend to bring forward legislation on this issue when parliamentary time allows.
	We are drawing on the Northern Ireland experience as set out in the Electoral Commission's report "The Electoral Fraud (Northern Ireland) Act 2002: An assessment of its first year in operation", the Commission's subsequent update reports, the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee report "Electoral Registration in Northern Ireland", and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee report "Electoral Registration".

Electoral Registration

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much has been spent in real terms on voter registration per elector in each local authority area in each of the last 10 years.

Harriet Harman: As electoral registration is dealt with and funded at local level, this information would be held by individual local authorities, and is not something that is held centrally by Government.

Electoral Registration

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 13 June 2005 to the hon. Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Derek Wyatt), Official Report, column 181W, on the electoral register, how many prosecutions for failure to complete and return an annual registration form there were in each of the last 10 years in each local authority area; and if she will make a statement.

Harriet Harman: This information is not collected centrally. However, I understand that there have only been a few prosecutions for failure to complete and return an annual registration form over the last 10 years. I am aware of the following instances; Medway council have prosecuted individuals in 2003 and 2004 and East Cambridgeshire district council prosecuted a person in 2004 for putting false information on the annual registration form. In 2003, ODPM conducted a survey on turnout at local elections and reported that nine authorities replied that they had prosecuted non-responders to the annual canvass form.

Legal Aid

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make an assessment of the impact of the level of legal aid on high street solicitors' firms.

Bridget Prentice: In the civil bid round held in April 2004 for the award of new solicitor General Civil Contracts with the Legal Services Commission (LSC) over 90 per cent. of solicitor firms applied to renew their contracts. As at 31 March 2005, 2,643 solicitors' offices operated under a Criminal Defence Service contract compared with 2,669 as at 31 March 2004.
	Reasons cited by those solicitors' firms that are withdrawing from legal aid work have included remuneration and profitability. However, the Department's Review of Supply, Demand and Purchasing Arrangements concluded that the legal aid market—for both civil and criminal work—could absorb a small increase in demand for services without the need for an increase in remuneration. Independent research contained in the "Financial Benchmarking Survey 2004" produced by the Law Management Section of The Law Society suggests that there may be a positive correlation between the profitability of a firm and it's handling of a moderate amount of legal aid work. This indicates that the discipline of undertaking legal aid work could result in operational efficiencies, which extend across the firm.

Legal Aid

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how barristers will be remunerated for preparatory work on criminal cases eligible for legal aid which do not proceed to trial.

Bridget Prentice: For criminal cases which do not proceed to trial, advocates are currently remunerated either within the Graduated Fee scheme, or by means of an ex post facto assessment of preparation work. The choice of means depends on the amount of prosecution evidence, the number of witnesses and the estimated length of trial.
	The Department has consulted with the legal professions to include all those cases that do not proceed to trial within the Graduated Fee scheme. The Lord Chancellor is considering the results of that consultation. The aim is to produce a scheme where payments reflect more accurately the amount of work undertaken at each stage until the trial.

Postal Voting

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the effect on turnout of postal voting on demand.

Harriet Harman: Returning Officers have a duty to complete a 'statement as to postal ballot papers' for each election (form K, schedule 3 to the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001). This includes the total of postal ballot papers issued and received by the Returning Officer.
	The Electoral Commission will collate and publish this information later this summer, as part of their general duty to report on UK Parliamentary elections. We cannot make an assessment of the exact percentage of the overall turnout that can be attributed to postal voting, until the Commission publishes its report.

Benefits/Pensions (Payment Methods)

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many customers have responded to the invitation to move to the direct payment of pensions and benefits stating that they could not open or operate a bank or Post Office card account;
	(2)  how many and what proportion of pension and benefit recipients have been identified as suitable for the cheque-based system of paying pensions and benefits.

James Plaskitt: Information is not available in the format requested. We did not collect data on how many customers responded stating that they could not open or operate an account.
	We contacted all customers who were not paid by direct payment asking them to provide details of which account they would like their money paid into. Customers who did not provide account details (for whatever reason, including not being able to open or operate an account) were moved to cheque payment.
	We are now paying over 96 per cent. of customer accounts by direct payment.
	The number and percentage of customers that were being paid by cheque at April 2005 is shown in the following chart:
	
		
			  GB total 
		
		
			 Total customers (million) 16.1 
			 Paid by cheque (million) 0.712 
			 Paid by cheque (percentage) 4

Benefits/Pensions (Payment Methods)

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans his Department has to evaluate the success of the exceptions scheme for people who are unable to use Post Office card accounts or basic bank accounts to receive their pensions or benefits.

James Plaskitt: As at April 2005 there were 712,000 customers who were being paid regularly by cheque.
	We have monitored payment by cheques since they replaced girocheques in October 2004 and will continue to do so.
	We believe that while cheques are a practical way of paying customers we also believe that, wherever possible, our customers should be encouraged to be paid direct into an account. That method of payment provides the safest, most reliable and best service.

Benefits/Pensions (Payment Methods)

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in (a) Gordon and (b) the North East of Scotland have been contacted about the move to the Direct Payment of benefits and pensions; and how many of those have (i) opted to receive their benefits or pension into a (A) bank account and (B) Post Office Card Account (ii) responded that direct payment is not a suitable method for the payment of benefits and (iii) not responded.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested. Information which is available at 16 April 2005 is shown in the table.
	All DWP customers have now been contacted about the move to Direct Payment and in Scotland we are now paying over 95 per cent. of customer accounts this way. Independent research has shown that there are very high levels of satisfaction among those customers who have transferred to Direct Payment.
	Customers who did not respond to the initial invitation were contacted again and those who still did not provide account details were moved to cheque payment following confirmation of their on-going entitlement.
	
		Benefit and pension accounts in Scotland by method of payment and parliamentary constituency as at April 2005
		
			  All Direct payment via bank account Direct payment via post office card account Cheque Payable order 
		
		
			 Scotland 1,933,365 1,351,580 497,535 82,320 1,935 
			 Aberdeen Central 21,445 15,195 5,345 855 50 
			 Aberdeen North 22,285 16,120 5,395 760 15 
			 Aberdeen South 24,020 18,410 4,875 710 20 
			 Airdrie and Shotts 33,010 20,125 11,230 1,590 65 
			 Angus 28,530 22,290 5,300 900 40 
			 Argyll and Bute 24,900 18,100 5,545 1,220 35 
			 Ayr 30,170 21,790 7,280 1,045 55 
			 Banff and Buchan 28,205 19,255 7,900 1,030 20 
			 Caithness Sutherland and Easter Ross 20,580 14,335 5,315 905 25 
			 Carrick Cumnock and Doon Valley 37,800 25,155 11,400 1,225 20 
			 Central Fife 31,485 22,655 7,815 1,005 15 
			 Clydebank and Milngavie 24,815 18,010 5,600 1,195 10 
			 Clydesdale 33,075 24,315 7,535 1,205 15 
			 Coatbridge and Chryston 28,720 17,435 9,980 1,305 5 
			 Cumbernauld and Kilsyth 23,135 16,790 5,530 800 10 
			 Cunninghame North 30,620 21,635 7,640 1,320 25 
			 Cunninghame South 27,535 18,395 7,915 1,210 15 
			 Dumbarton 24,285 17,865 5,195 1,200 25 
			 Dumfries 31,475 23,395 7,010 1,050 20 
			 Dundee East 31,960 21,680 8,905 1,360 20 
			 Dundee West 28,960 20,020 7,645 1,285 10 
			 Dunfermline East 26,970 19,295 6,720 950 10 
			 Dunfermline West 23,235 17,595 4,890 705 45 
			 East Kilbride 29,875 22,910 6,015 945 5 
			 East Lothian 27,920 20,430 6,490 970 25 
			 Eastwood 28,600 22,795 4,955 820 30 
			 Edinburgh Central 21,625 16,020 4,490 1,090 20 
			 Edinburgh East and Musselburgh 29,085 20,220 7,245 1,610 10 
			 Edinburgh North and Leith 23,765 17,085 5,280 1,385 20 
			 Edinburgh Pentlands 23,500 18,005 4,595 880 20 
			 Edinburgh South 23,470 17,755 4,615 1,050 45 
			 Edinburgh West 26,475 20,550 4,960 915 50 
			 Falkirk East 25,080 17,720 6,525 815 20 
			 Falkirk West 28,165 19,860 6,985 1,250 70 
			 Galloway and Upper Nithsdale 29,780 20,820 8,015 915 30 
			 Glasgow Anniesland 31,520 19,615 9,750 2,110 45 
			 Glasgow Baillieston 31,220 17,720 11,510 1,970 20 
			 Glasgow Cathcart 26,835 17,645 7,850 1,315 25 
			 Glasgow Govan 24,690 16,815 6,440 1,395 35 
			 Glasgow Kelvin 21,980 13,775 6,555 1,640 15 
			 Glasgow Maryhill 31,000 16,830 11,640 2,500 30 
			 Glasgow Pollok 30,885 19,465 9,790 1,530 105 
			 Glasgow Rutherglen 29,190 18,405 9,465 1,290 25 
			 Glasgow Shettleston 33,145 17,635 12,985 2,515 15 
			 Glasgow Springburn 34,845 18,405 13,775 2,615 50 
			 Gordon 22,520 16,775 5,145 590 15 
			 Greenock and Inverclyde 27,605 18,465 7,865 1,250 20 
			 Hamilton North and Bellshill 27,940 17,940 8,765 1,210 25 
			 Hamilton South 26,070 16,915 8,040 1,100 15 
			 Inverness East Nairn and Lochaber 29,560 22,095 6,185 1,245 30 
			 Kilmarnock and Loudoun 31,205 22,030 7,815 1,325 30 
			 Kirkcaldy 26,380 19,315 6,270 780 20 
			 Linlithgow 27,180 18,720 7,295 1,155 10 
			 Livingston 26,985 20,050 5,820 1,090 25 
			 Midlothian 24,510 18,170 5,335 980 25 
			 Moray 26,570 19,615 6,005 925 25 
			 Motherwell and Wishaw 31,100 19,140 10,410 1,530 15 
			 North East Fife 24,165 18,445 4,895 765 60 
			 North Tayside 30,075 23,565 5,540 940 30 
			 Ochil 26,700 19,650 6,255 785 10 
			 Orkney and Shetland 13,020 9,595 2,935 480 10 
			 Paisley North 26,890 17,850 7,735 1,290 15 
			 Paisley South 28,950 19,590 8,080 1,220 60 
			 Perth 28,555 22,035 5,570 930 25 
			 Ross Skye and Inverness West 26,890 19,295 6,335 1,220 40 
			 Roxburgh and Berwickshire 22,730 17,000 5,085 625 25 
			 Stirling 23,415 16,695 5,935 765 20 
			 Strathkelvin and Bearsden 27,090 21,600 4,645 820 25 
			 Tweeddale Ettrick and Lauderdale 21,890 16,870 4,385 615 20 
			 West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine 20,935 16,290 4,115 520 15 
			 West Renfrewshire 23,695 17,015 5,720 920 40 
			 Western Isles 10,885 6,525 3,440 910 10 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 5 and may not sum due to rounding.
	2. Figures are taken from the latest available data at 16 April 2005.
	3. Figures refer to payment accounts. Claimants with more than one account will be counted for each account and customers with combined payments will only be counted through the paying benefit (i.e. RP with PC). Figures relate only to accounts live and in payment on the specified date.
	4. Child benefit is now administered by the Inland Revenue and War Pensions are now administered by MOD. These benefits have therefore been excluded.
	5. Parliamentary constituencies are allocated using the relevant ONS postcode directory.
	Source:
	DWP, Information Directorate, 100 per cent. data.

Disability Living Allowance

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 27 June 2005, Official Report, column 1247W, on disability living allowance, what assessment he has made of the reasons the percentage of rejected claims has increased since 2002; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for the chief executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Terry Moran to Mr. Angus MacNeil, dated 4 July 2005
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 27th June, Official Report, column 1247W, on disability living allowance, for what reason the percentage of rejected claims has increased since 2002. The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
	The percentage rejections on disability living allowance claims has increased since 2002 because the conditions of entitlement to benefit have been found not to be satisfied in a greater proportion of claims.
	No action has been taken by Disability and Carers Service with the intention of reducing the award rate. Our intention remains to pay the right money to the right person at the right time.
	I hope this is helpful.

Housing Benefit

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what criteria were used to set the broad rental market areas in the housing benefit pathfinders; how often they will be reviewed; and how they will be monitored;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of how up-to-date the information used by rent officers to set (a) standard housing allowances in the pathfinders and (b) the local reference rents or single room rents elsewhere is.

James Plaskitt: The administration of The Rent Service is a matter for the chief executive, Charlotte Copeland. She will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Charlotte Copeland to Mr. Paul Goodman, dated 4 July 2005
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about The Rent Service, the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, about the criteria used to set the broad rental market areas in the housing benefit pathfinders, how often they will be reviewed, how they will be monitored, and how up-to-date information used by rent officers is when setting rents for Housing Benefit purposes.
	The criteria used by rent officers to set the broad rental market areas are covered in the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) (Local Housing Allowance) Amendment Order 2003 [Statutory Instrument 2003 No. 2398]. This defines the broad rental market area as:
	" . . . an area—
	(a) comprising two or more distinct areas of residential accommodation, each distinct area of residential accommodation adjoining at least one other in the area;
	(b) within which a person could reasonably be expected to live having regard to facilities and services for the purposes of health, education, recreation, personal banking and shopping, taking account of the distance of travel, by public and private transport, to and from facilities and services of the same type and similar standard; and
	(c) containing residential premises of a variety of types, and including such premises held on a variety of tenancies."
	The broad rental market areas are reviewed on a monthly basis, with a more in depth review carried out each quarter.
	The broad rental market areas are monitored through the monthly and quarterly review process and The Rent Service's own internal quality assurance processes.
	Rent officers continually research the private rented sector for market evidence of lettings of property and accommodation where the rent is being paid without the aid of housing benefit. The Rent Service's market evidence database is therefore continually being updated with the latest information available.
	Rent officers use the most up to date market evidence available when setting Local Housing Allowances, Local Reference Rents and Single Room Rents. The Rent Service's guidelines are that market evidence used should be, in the main, no more than 3 months old, but with a maximum of six months if this is necessary in some cases.
	If there is anything further you require, please do not hesitate to contact me direct.

Income Support

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average response time is for processing new applications for income support; and what the figure is for applications received by the Department's Ilford office.

Margaret Hodge: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Acting Chief Executive, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Lesley Strathie to Mr. James Brokenshire, dated 4 July 2005
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question asking what the average time is for processing new applications for Income Support: and what the figure is for applications received by the Department's Ilford office. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The national average clearance time for new applications to Income Support to year ending May 2005 is 10.5 days. The target for the clearance of Income Support claims is 12 days.
	As at 31 May 2005 Ilford Benefit Processing Centre (BPC) had 800 new claims waiting to be processed, taking an average of 21.5 working days to process.
	As at 20 June 2005 there were 276 new claims outstanding, taking an average of 13 working days to process.
	As part of the Department for Work and Pensions modernisation programme, backroom benefits work for North East London District customers has been centralised at Ilford BPC. As the work from various locations was transferred to the centre there was an increase in the number of telephone enquiries from customers, which caused a backlog of work. Interim measures were put in place to alleviate the immediate problems; these included the opening of additional telephone lines and the deployment of staff from outside the BPC to speed up the processing of claims. The situation at the BPC was monitored daily by local management to ensure any telephone delays were minimised.
	The increase in the number of telephone lines coming into the office helped to improve the situation and it will continue to improve as more staff become available in the BPC over the coming weeks and as more work is done to further increase the telephone capacity.
	As the figures show there has been a significant improvement over the past month in processing new applications reflecting the hard work of local management and staff.
	Local management will continue to monitor the situation.
	I hope this is helpful.

Poverty (London)

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people are estimated to be living below the poverty line in each London borough.

Margaret Hodge: Poverty is about more than low income. It is also about health, housing and the quality of the environment. The sixth annual 'Opportunity for all' report (Cm 6239), published in September 2004, sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and presents information on the indicators used to measure progress against this strategy.
	Specific information regarding low income for Great Britain is available in "Households Below Average Income 1994/95–2003/04". The threshold of below 60 per cent. contemporary median income is the most commonly used in reporting trends in low income. Data is not available below regional level, therefore we are not able to provide figures for London boroughs.
	Copies of both documents are available in the Library.

2001 Census

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people aged over 18 years there were in each parliamentary constituency in England and Wales according to the 2001 census, broken down by ward.

John Healey: holding answer 28 June 2005
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Chris Ruane, dated 30 June 2005
	As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales, I am replying to your recent parliamentary question asking how many people aged over 18 years there were in each parliamentary constituency in England and Wales according to the 2001 census, broken down by ward. (7764)
	We have interpreted the phrase "over 18" to mean aged 18 and over. Specially commissioned table COS 19 has been run to identify the number of people aged 18 and over living in each ward within each parliamentary constituency in England and Wales on census day (29 April 2001). The table has been placed in the House of Commons Library [and can also be accessed on the National Statistics website at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/opl5.asp].
	
		
			 Parliamentary constituency Ward Persons aged 19 and over 
		
		
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UBFT Alnmouth and Lesbury 1,413 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UBFU Alnwick Castle 2,708 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UBFW Alnwick Clayport 1,640 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UBFX Alnwick Hotspur 1,752 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UBFY Amble Central 1,719 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UBFZ Amble East 1,759 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UBGA Amble West 1,588 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35LJBGE Longframlington 1,669 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UBGF Longhoughton with Craster and Rennington 2,399 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UBGG Rothbury and South Rural 2,412 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UBGH Shilbottle 2,448 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UBGJ Warkworth 1,645 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UBGK Whittingham 1,536 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UCFU Belford 1,475 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UCFW Cheviot 1,417 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UCFX Edward 1,358 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UCFY Elizabeth 2,084 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UCGB Islandshire 2,203 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UCGCLowick 1,563 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UCGD Norhamshire 1,270 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UCGE North Sunderland 2,180 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UCGF Prior 2,095 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UCGG Seton 1,439 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UCGJ Spittal 2,298 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UCGKWooler 1,514 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UEFY Chevington 2,592 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UEFZ Ellington 2,289 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UEGA Hartburn 793 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UEGD Longhorsley 1,150 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UEGE Lynemouth 1,366 
			 025 Berwick-upon-Tweed 35UEGT Ulgham 2,275 
			 042 Bishop Auckland 20UGGB Byerley 2,622 
			 042 Bishop Auckland 20UGGG Low Spennymoor and Tudhoe Grange 4,314 
			 042 Bishop Auckland 20UGGH Middlestone 3,979 
			 042 Bishop Auckland 20UGGN Spennymoor 4,079 
			 042 Bishop Auckland 20UGGP Sunnydale 2,849 
			 042 Bishop Auckland 20UGGQ Thickley 2,704 
			 042 Bishop Auckland 20UGGR Tudhoe 2,739 
			 042 Bishop Auckland 20UHFW Barnard Castle East 1,305 
			 042 Bishop Auckland 20UHFX Barnard Castle North 1,180 
			 042 Bishop Auckland 20UHFY Barnard Castle West 2,840 
			 042 Bishop Auckland 20UHGA Cockfield 1,272 
			 042 Bishop Auckland 20UHGC Eggleston 1,126 
			 042 Bishop Auckland 20UHGD Etherley 1,933 
			 042 Bishop Auckland 20UHGE Evenwood 1,820 
			 042 Bishop Auckland 20UHGF Gainford and Winston 1,820 
			 042 Bishop Auckland 20UHGG Greta 1,043

Alcohol/Drug Related Deaths

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in respect of how many deaths, in each Government Office region, alcohol was the primary cause in each of the last five years.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Lynne Featherstone, dated 30 June 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking in respect of how many deaths, in each Government Office Region, alcohol was the primary cause in each of the last five years. (7966)
	The latest year for which figures are available is 2004. The table shows the numbers of deaths among residents of Government Office Regions where the underlying cause of death indicated a condition directly related to alcohol use in the years 2000 to 2004.
	
		Alcohol-related deaths(7) to usual residents of Government Office Regions, registered 2000 to 2004
		
			  Year of registration 
			 Area of usual residence 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Government Office Region in England   
			 North East 335 346 346 389 430 
			 North West 950 1,053 1,065 1,115 1,179 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 428 500 487 580 627 
			 East Midlands 427 420 446 497 497 
			 West Midlands 604 664 710 752 750 
			 East of England 438 454 473 489 491 
			 London 806 809 838 834 772 
			 South East 725 843 831 882 842 
			 South West 467 500 502 527 537 
			 Wales 345 396 372 416 419 
			   
			 England and Wales 5,525 5,985 6,070 6,481 6,544 
		
	
	(7) For the year 2000 the cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9). The codes used by ONS to define alcohol-related deaths are listed below:
	291—Alcoholic psychoses
	303—Alcohol dependence syndrome
	305.0—Non-dependent abuse of alcohol
	425.5—Alcoholic cardiomyopathy
	571—Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis
	E860—Accidental poisoning by alcohol.
	For the years 2001–2004 the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) was used. To maintain comparability with earlier years the following codes were used:
	F10—Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol
	142.6—Alcoholic cardiomyopathy
	K70—Alcoholic liver disease
	K73—Chronic hepatitis, not elsewhere classified
	K74—Fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver
	X45—Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol.
	Deaths were selected using the original underlying cause.
	The selection of codes to define alcohol-related deaths is described in:
	Baker A and Rooney C (2003). Recent trends in alcohol-related mortality, and the impact of ICD-10 on the monitoring of these deaths in England and Wales. Health Statistics Quarterly 17, pp 5–14.

Alcohol/Drug Related Deaths

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many deaths in which the primary cause was (a) alcohol and (b) illegal drugs there were in (i) Stroud and (ii) Gloucestershire in each of the last five years.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. David Drew, dated 30 June 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many deaths in which the primary cause was (a) alcohol and (b) illegal drugs there were in (i) Stroud and (ii) Gloucestershire in each of the last five years. (8001)
	The most recently available information is for deaths registered in 2004 and deaths occurring in 2003. Relevant figures are only readily available for deaths where the underlying cause was either related to drug poisoning or directly related to alcohol (alcohol abuse, dependence and poisoning, and diseases directly related to alcohol use). It is not possible to identify from death certificates which substance was the primary cause when more than one was involved.
	Figures for alcohol-related deaths to usual residents of Stroud and Gloucestershire registered in the years 2000 to 2004 are given in the table below. ONS compiles a special database to analyse mortality from drug-related poisoning adding more detail than is available on routine annual extracts. This database is compiled using the annual occurrences extract of mortality data. Figures showing deaths related to drug poisoning involving controlled drugs occurring in the years 1999 to 2003, to usual residents of Stroud and Gloucestershire, are given in the table below. Information on deaths involving illegal drugs is not available, as how the deceased obtained a particular drug is not recorded at death registration.
	It should be noted that the figures on drug-related poisoning are not directly comparable to the figures on alcohol for the following reasons:
	The figures on drugs do not include long-term effects of drug taking, whereas the figures on alcohol include cirrhosis of the liver.
	Deaths from poisoning which involved both drugs and alcohol are coded as due to drug poisoning, in accordance with international rules for coding cause of death.
	The figures on alcohol include only those where the underlying cause was alcohol-related. The figures on specific drugs include any mention of a substance on a death related to drug poisoning.
	
		Number of alcohol-related deaths(8) and deaths from drug-related poisoning(9) involving controlled drugs(10), Stroud and Gloucestershire(11), 1999 to 2004(12)
		
			  1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 (a) Alcohol-related deaths   
			 (i) Stroud — 8 8 10 6 8 
			 (ii) Gloucestershire — 51 57 62 44 58 
			 (b) Deaths from drug-related poisoning involving controlled drugs 
			 (i) Stroud (13)— (13)— (13)— (13)— 5 — 
			 (ii) Gloucestershire 8 19 10 10 16 — 
		
	
	Notes:
	(8) For the year 2000 the cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9). The codes selected to define alcohol-related deaths are listed below:
	291—Alcoholic psychoses
	303—Alcohol dependence syndrome
	305.0—Non-dependent abuse of alcohol
	425.5—Alcoholic cardiomyopathy
	571—Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis
	E860—Accidental poisoning by alcohol.
	For the years 2001–2004 the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) was used. To maintain comparability with earlier years the following codes were selected:
	F10—Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol
	142.6—Alcoholic cardiomyopathy
	K70—Alcoholic liver disease
	K73—Chronic hepatitis, not elsewhere classified
	K74—Fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver
	X45—Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol.
	The selection of codes to define alcohol-related deaths is described in: Baker A and Rooney C (2003). Recent trends in alcohol-related mortality, and the impact of ICD-10 on the monitoring of these deaths in England and Wales. Health Statistics Quarterly 17, pp 5–14.
	(9) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 292, 304, 305.2–305.9, E850-E858, E950.0-E950.5, E962.0 and E980.0-E980.5 for 1999 to 2000, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes F11-F16, F18-F19, X40-X44, X60-X64, X85 and Y10-Y14 from 2001 onwards.
	(10) Drugs mentioned on the death certificate of a death where the underlying cause was drug poisoning.
	(11) Deaths of usual residents of:
	(i) Stroud local authority
	(ii) County of Gloucestershire.
	(12) Data are for deaths registered in each calendar year for alcohol-related deaths and for deaths occurring in each calendar year for deaths related to drug poisoning.
	(13) Fewer than 5 deaths.

Antisocial Behaviour Statistics

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what data the Office for National Statistics (a) collects and (b) publishes on the antisocial behaviour of (i) children and (ii) adults at a (A) ward and (B) neighbourhood level.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Mark Hoban, dated 30 June 2005
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what data the Office for National Statistics collect and publish on the anti-social behaviour of (a) children and (b) adults at a (i) ward and (ii) neighbourhood level. I am replying in his absence. (8371)
	Data on the number of anti-social behaviour orders are collated each quarter by the Home Office and are published on the crime reduction website for Criminal Justice System areas (www.crimereduction.gov.uk/asbos2.htm).
	Unpublished data on the number of anti-social behaviour orders issued by local authority area, according to the restrictions imposed on individuals, are held by the Home Office. Statistics on the number of anti-social behaviour order incidents are not collected centrally.

Carers

Paul Burstow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many carers were recorded by the 2001 Census, broken down by (a) under 18 years, (b) 18 to 64 years, (c) 65 to 74 years, (d) 75 years and over and (e) age not known in each London borough.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Paul Burstow, dated 30 June 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning the number of carers recorded by the 2001 Census, broken down by (a) under 18 years, (b) 18 to 64 years, (c) 65 to 74 years, (d) 75 years and over and (e) age not known in each London borough. (8429).
	Specially commissioned table C0520 has been run to identify the number of people aged under 18 years and (b) 18 to 64 years, (c) 65 to 74 years, (d) 75 years and over who are providing unpaid care in each London Borough. This has been placed in the House of Commons Library and can also be accessed on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/opl5.asp
	There are no statistics on 'age not known'. Where date of birth is missing on the Census form age is imputed based on other characteristics of the individual and relationships within the household.

Drug Smuggling

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government are taking to stop drugs being imported into the UK; and how much the Government has invested in drugs detection technology in (a) ports and (b) airports since 1998.

Dawn Primarolo: The updated drug strategy 2002 sets out HMG's approach to tackling drugs in the UK. Responsibility for driving forward the supply side activity rests with those law enforcement agencies and other bodies engaged in tackling drug supply, working together as the concerted inter-agency drug action group (CIDA).
	CIDA agencies recently agreed a new delivery strategy, which aims to improve our performance and to achieve a sustained impact on the availability of class A drugs in our communities, thereby reducing the harm that drugs cause. It broadly covers four areas:
	Harm reduction in UK communities: Measuring the impact of supply side activity in terms of the outcomes in UK communities.
	Intelligence process: Adopting an intelligence led process to target activity more effectively.
	Zonal linkages: Prioritising efforts across and within geographical "zones" of action, trying to maximise our impact.
	Street level up: Testing a new approach of tracing the supply chain back from street level problems (called "street level up"), and then hitting it in a co-ordinated way.
	As for drug detection technology, until recently expenditure on proven drug detection technologies had been limited by their capability and value for money. However, technology research in port and airport security dramatically increased post 9/11, and in the last 18 months we established that systems primarily built for this purpose were readily adaptable for identifying drug concealments. Working in partnership with manufacturers we have established a project aimed at purchasing new systems and providing testing opportunities, at border controls to inform further development and enhance workable solutions.
	Post 1998 and prior to the project we spent in the region of £10 million on technology and scientific aids to provide additional tools for front line officers in the fight against drugs smuggling. In these early stages of the new project we have contributed £300,000 to the research and development of two new technologies, including capital for the purchase of a prototype.
	The project has identified a number of new technologies for the short, medium and long-term, which will see further substantial investment in new and more reliable product-specific technology to combat drug importations more successfully.

Emigration

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many UK subjects have emigrated to live in Commonwealth countries since 2001.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Colin Mowl to Mr. Andrew Rosindell, dated 30 June 2005
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question regarding estimates for the number of UK subjects who have emigrated to live in Commonwealth countries since 2001. I am replying in his absence. (8536)
	The table below shows annual estimates for the number of British citizens migrating to Commonwealth countries between 2001 and 2003. The definition of a migrant used in the calculation of these estimates is a person who changes their country of usual residence for a period of at least a year. Therefore, some of the people estimated to have migrated to the Commonwealth over this period may have subsequently returned to the UK.
	
		International migration: estimates from the International Passenger Survey, 2001 to 2003 British citizens migrating to the Commonwealth United Kingdom (thousand)
		
			 Citizenship Country of next residence Year Outflow(17)(emigration out of the UK) 
		
		
			 British Commonwealth countries 2001 53.5 
			   2002 53.7 
			   2003 63.4 
		
	
	(17) Estimates for 2001–03 are based on data from the International Passenger Survey only. They do not include adjustments for those whose intended length of stay changes so that their migrant status changes.
	Note:
	International Passenger Survey estimates are subject to sampling and non-sampling error since they are derived from a sample survey. One standard error for each outflow shown above is equal to 8 per cent.
	The annual reference volume "Series MN, International Migration" includes a table (Table 3.1) showing migration estimates by country of last or next residence for British citizens (and other groups of citizens). The most recent annual reference volume is "Series MN No. 30, International Migration, 2003". This publication, and earlier editions, can be accessed at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/Product.asp?vlnk=507.

Great Britain National Insurance Fund

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the administrative costs were of the National Insurance Fund in each of the last three years; what the value of the Fund is; what estimate he has made of the (a) surplus in the Fund and (b) value of National Insurance contributions in (i) 2005, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2020, (iv) 2030, (v) 2040 and (vi) 2060; and what advice he has received from the Government Actuary on the desirable level of the surplus.

Dawn Primarolo: Information on the administrative costs to the Great Britain National Insurance Fund for the last three years are in the following table:
	
		
			  £000 
			  Admin Costs 
		
		
			 2002–03 1,241,496 
			 2003–04 1,754,093 
			 2004–05 1,480,033 
		
	
	The value of the fund as at 31 March 2004 stood at £27,081,605,770.
	I refer the hon. Member to Table 15.7 on page 129 of the Government Actuary's Quinquennial Review of the National Insurance Fund (published in 2003) for the estimate of (a) the surplus in the Fund and (b) value of NICs in (i) 2005, (ii) 2010, (iii) 2020, (iv) 2030, (v) 2040 and (vi) 2060. In this context, surplus is defined as the excess of income over expenditure. The Government Actuary has not given any advice on the desirable level of surplus in the NIF in any particular year.

HIPCs

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether the suspension of debt servicing agreed by the G7 for the 18 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) who have reached their HIPC Initiative Completion Points (a) has been implemented and (b) is subject to ratification by international financial institutions;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the total value of the G7 debt relief initiative in 2005 for the 18 countries qualifying;
	(3)  if he will make it his policy that funds from G8 aid budgets should not be used as part of debt relief arrangements;
	(4)  what criteria will be used to determine levels of good governance allowing the implementation of debt relief in developing countries;
	(5)  what further progress he expects to be made on aid and debt relief for developing countries at the G8 Gleneagles summit;
	(6)  if he will reduce the level of conditionality within the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.

Ivan Lewis: Substantial progress has been made on both aid and debt relief in recent months. The EU has made an historic commitment to double its aid from current levels of around US$40 billion to over $80 billion in 2010 and on debt G8 Finance Ministers have agreed debt relief worth up to $55 billion. The total debt service (principal and interest) of the 18 HIPCs due to the IMF, World Bank and African Development Bank in 2005 is $560 million.
	Finance Ministers agreed that the G8 debt relief proposal should be put forward for agreement at the Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank in September. Once it is agreed it will be implemented as soon as possible.
	The UK believes that debt relief should be funded through additional resources. In this way, it is an important source of additional funds for countries to spend on poverty reduction and the investments in health, education, water and infrastructure that are essential if the MDGs are to be met. We continue to lobby others to support this view.
	Our share of the G8 debt agreement will be funded through the additional resources allocated to DFID in the recent Spending Review: by 2007–08, total UK aid will rise to nearly £6.5 billion a year, representing 0.47 per cent. of GNI, a real terms increase of 140 per cent. since 1997. Part of the increase in DFID's budget was earmarked for the provision of further debt relief, and it is these earmarked funds that will be used. Our multilateral debt assistance will be in addition to generous UK contributions to the IDA 14 and AfDF X replenishments.
	It is essential that the resources freed up by debt relief are used to support poverty reduction. For this reason, the G8 debt agreement provides debt relief only to those countries that have demonstrated their commitment to reducing poverty through implementing a successful Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). PRSPs include strategies for investment in health, education and water and sanitation to help countries to reach the Millennium Development Goals. The countries that qualify for the G8 debt agreement have reached completion point of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative have demonstrated their commitment to poverty reduction and sound financial management.
	In order to reach completion point, a country must maintain macroeconomic stability under a PRGF-supported program, carry out key structural and social reforms, and implement a PRSP for one year upon which Bank and Fund staff prepare recommendations to their respective boards for consideration. The final determination is made by the boards of the two institutions.
	The World Bank and IMF are both undertaking reviews of their approach to conditionality this year. In the context of these reviews, the UK will work to ensure that these institutions only support programmes which are agreed rather than imposed, and where benchmarks to assess progress are focussed on the impact of a country's overall policy programme rather than any particular policy decision.

Lisbon Score Card

Keith Vaz: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the relative performance of the UK by comparison with other EU member states in respect of the Lisbon score card measures of (a) innovation, (b) liberalisation, (c) enterprise, (d) employment and social inclusion and (e) sustainable development.

John Healey: There are over 100 Lisbon structural indicators in the full set of economic, social and environmental categories. A full set of structural indicators can be found on the Eurostat Structural Indicators website: (http://epp.eurostat.cec.eu.int/portal/page?_pageid=1133,1400891,1133_1402816& dad_ portal&_schema=PORTAL ). A selection of the higher-level indicators relevant to the areas requested are set out in the table.
	
		Table of relative UK performance
		
			  UK EU 
		
		
			 (a) Innovation   
			 Gross domestic expenditure on R and D (GERD)—as a percentage of GDP (20) 1.87 1.93 
			 Broadband penetration rate—number of broadband lines subscribed in percentage of the population 7.4 6.5 
			
			 (b) Liberalisation   
			 Price of telecommunications—national calls—price level and evolution in the telecommunications market (in Euro per 10 min call) 0.44 0.9 
			 Electricity prices—households—price level and evolution in the electricity market (in Euro per kWh) 0.08 0.10 
			
			 (c) Enterprise   
			 Venture capital investments—early stage—as a percentage of GDP(21) 0.039 (22)0.02 
			 Total state aid—as a percentage of GDP(20) 0.26 (22)0.57 
			
			 (d) Employment and social inclusion   
			 Total employment rate—employed persons aged 15 to 64 as a percentage share of the total population of the same age group 71.6 63.3 
			 Life-long learning—percentage of the adult population aged 25 to 64 participating in education and training (in the four weeks preceding the survey) 21.3 9.9 
			 At-risk-of-poverty rate after social transfers—the percentage share of persons with an equivalised disposable income below the risk-of-poverty threshold (23) 19 15 
			
			 (e) Sustainable development   
			 Total greenhouse gas emissions—percentage change since base year and targets according to Kyoto Protocol/EU Council Decision for 2008–201 2 (in CO(21) equivalents) indexed on actual base year = 100(21) 85 91.1 
		
	
	(20) Data for 2002.
	(21) Data for 2003.
	(22) Data for EU 15.
	(23) Date for 2001.
	Data for Note:
	Where possible, except where indicated otherwise, data for 2004 and the EU as comprised of 25 member states have been used.

National Insurance (Offshore Facilities/Registration)

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the effect is on (a) UK nationals and (b) non-UK nationals access to benefits conditional on payment of national insurance contributions of their employer's decision to register offshore.

Dawn Primarolo: The UK social security system does not distinguish between UK and non UK-nationals working in the UK. In general, having an employer that is a company registered outside the UK will make little practical difference to an employee's access to contributory benefits. If the employee works in the UK and meets the conditions as to residence or presence in the UK he or she will still have to pay NICs and therefore will qualify for benefits.

Overpaid Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what legal advice he has received in relation to recovery of overpaid tax credits; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the letter I sent him today.

Personal Finances (London)

Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average (a) unsecured debt per person and (b) annual income in London has been in each year since 1997.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Sarah Teather, dated 4 July 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question about average unsecured debt per person and annual income in London since 1997. (8199)
	Figures for average incomes per person for London are shown in Table A. These were published on 29 April 2005. Gross disposable household income (GDHI) is the amount of money that households have available for consumption expenditure or saving. Total household incomes represent the total amount of money households receive before any deductions. Regional GDHI data are available on the national statistics website http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=7359
	Regional figures for unsecured debt are not available. Average unsecured debt per person figures for the United Kingdom, are shown in Table B. These were published on 30 June 2005 in Blue Book 2005 on the national statistics website http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=l143.
	The statistics used are national accounts series for the combined household and non-profit institutions serving households sectors. Estimates for household alone are not available.
	
		Table A(24)
		
			  Average incomes per capita(25), London 
			  Gross disposable household income (GDHI)(26)(£)  Total incomes(27)(£) 
		
		
			 1997 11,660 18,040 
			 1998 12,060 19,450 
			 1999 12,730 20,570 
			 2000 13,600 22,170 
			 2001 14,480 23,210 
			 2002 14,750 23,650 
			 2003 15,240 24,510 
		
	
	(24) Data are rounded.
	(25) Based on the total population.
	(26) GDHI estimates are a moving average based "trend" of the unadjusted estimates for each region. The "trending" removes some of the year to year volatility of the unadjusted series.
	(27) All household income including employers' social contributions, imputed social contributions, social benefits and other current transfers received.
	
		Table B(28) UK (£)
		
			  Annual income per person(29) Unsecured debt per person(29) 
		
		
			 1997 12,340 3,440 
			 1998 12,730 3,690 
			 1999 13,300 3,970 
			 2000 14,010 4,310 
			 2001 14,830 4,730 
			 2002 15,200 5,410 
			 2003 15,840 5,820 
			 2004 16,250 6,730 
		
	
	(28) Data are rounded.
	(29) Based on the population aged 16+.

PRODCOM Forms

Michael Weir: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what the (a) maximum, (b) minimum and (c) average fine imposed on small businesses in (i) Scotland, (ii) Wales and (iii) England for failure to return PRODCOM forms was in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how much in fines was levied on businesses in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) England in each of the last five years for failure to complete and return PRODCOM forms;
	(3)  how many (a) companies and (b) individuals have been fined for failure to return and complete PRODCOM returns in each of the last five years in (i) Scotland, (ii) Wales and (iii) England;
	(4)  how many companies have been prosecuted for failure to return PRODCOM returns in each of the last five years.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Mike Weir, dated 4 July 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions concerning the prosecution of businesses for failures to return their PRODCOM forms, and the fines they have received (9583, 9584, 9587 and 9588).
	Prosecution of recalcitrant responders is very much a last resort: we would much prefer to proceed with the cooperation of those we ask to fill in forms, and for the vast part we succeed in that. However, 5 businesses have been prosecuted and fined in the last five years for failure to return their PRODCOM forms (one in the year 2000; two in 2001; and two in 2004). One of those businesses had an address in Scotland; the others all had addresses in England. One was a business with fewer than 20 employees.
	The fines varied from £75 to £1000. The total for the five cases was £1925.

Tax Credits

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of tax credit overpayment was in the 2003–04 financial year in Peterborough constituency.

Dawn Primarolo: The number of tax credit awards for 2003–04 underpaid and overpaid after finalisation are available for each region, parliamentary constituency and local authority in the publication "Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics. Finalised Awards 2003–04. Supplement on Payments in 2003–04. Geographical Analyses". This is available on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/menu.htm.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his latest estimate is of the number of tax credit (a) overpayments and (b) underpayments in 2004–05; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of numbers and values of overpayments or underpayments for 2004–05 awards at 5 April 2005 will not be available until after family circumstances and incomes for 2004–05 have been finalised. The most recent estimates available for the number of overpaid awards and the value of these overpayments is for awards at 5 April 2004 based on final family circumstances and incomes for 2003–04. They appear in the HMRC publication "Child and Working Tax Credits Annual statistics. 2003–04 Payments." The estimates are based on samples and are subject to significant sampling uncertainty.
	This publication can be found on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-quarterly-stats.htm

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit awards were made in (a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05 to households with incomes of (i) £40,000 per annum and (ii) £50,000 per annum; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The number of awards made to families in 2003–04 whose finalised income in that year was (i) £40,000 to £50,000 and (ii) over £50,000 is contained in the publication "Child and Working Tax Credits Statistics. Finalised awards 2003–04. Supplement on payments in 2003–04". This is available on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/menu.htm.
	Figures for 2004–05 are not yet available.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many overpayments of tax credits during 2003–04 were recovered before the end of the financial year.

Dawn Primarolo: Overpayments of tax credits are not identified until family circumstances and income are finalised after the end of the financial year. However, tax credit awards can be adjusted during the year to take account of a change in circumstances or income. Where the amount payable is reduced, payments are adjusted with the aim of paying out the right amount for the year as a whole. This is explained in HMRC's Code of Practice 26 "What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?", available on our website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/cop26.htm.This is part of the normal operation of the tax credit system, and no count of such occurrences is maintained.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost of administering (a) family credit, (b) working families tax credit and disabled person's tax credit and (c) child tax credit and working tax credit in each of the last eight years in which credits were payable in (i) cash and (ii) real terms.

Dawn Primarolo: The cost of managing and paying the child and working tax credits in the financial year 2003–04 appears in Note 3 to the Trust Statement in the Inland Revenue Annual Report and Accounts for that year. The costs of managing and paying working families' and disabled person's tax credits are shown in the Inland Revenue Trust Accounts, at Note 3 for 1999–2000 to 2001–02 and at Note 4 for 2002–03. I understand from the Department of Work and Pensions that the estimated annual costs for family credit in Great Britain are given in the annual reports of the former Department of Social Security.
	The costs of managing and paying of family credit, working families tax credit and disabled person's tax credit, and child tax credit and working tax credit in each of the last eight in real terms were as follows:
	
		
			  Costs of managing and paying tax credits (£ million) 
			  In nominal terms In real terms (at 2004–05 prices) Total families benefiting (Thousands) 
		
		
			 1996–97 (FC) 66.0 80.1 (30)725.6 
			 1997–98 (FC) 59.0 69.8 (30)766.1 
			 1998–99 (FC) 72.0 82.8 (30)790.5 
			 1999–2000 (WFTC and DPTC) 36.1 40.6 (31)834 
			 2000–01 (WFTC and DPTC) 136.7 152.1 (31)1.195 
			 2001–02 (WFTC and DPTC) 143.9 156.2 (31)1.326 
			 2002–03 (WFTC and DPTC) 143.0 150.1 (31)1.414 
			 2003–04 (WTC and CTC) 403.0 411.0 (32)5.700 
		
	
	(30) Number of awards to all families, as at November of each year.
	(31) All recipients, as at October for DPTC and November for WFTC.
	(32) Average number of families benefiting on each day over the year.
	The comparison over time is affected by the absence of children's tax credit from the costs of managing and paying tax credits for 2001–02 and 2002–03 as this was included in the Inland Revenue's routine work and not separately identified in running costs.
	As a proportion of total payments made each year, administration costs have remained stable since 1999, at around 2.5 per cent. to 3 per cent.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value is of tax credit overpayments written off in each month since April 2003.

Dawn Primarolo: HMRC wrote off 373,000 overpayments to a value of around £37 million following the identification of a software error that affected some 455,000 households in April and May 2003. This is explained in the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General 2003–04, which can be found in the board's annual report at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pdfs/report2004.pdf
	Overpayments for 2003–04 were only finally identified after April 2004 when HMRC started finalising awards for that year and the Department began considering disputed overpayments in June 2004.
	The monthly breakdown of overpayments written off each month from June 2004 on the grounds of official error is as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			 Month Amount written off 
		
		
			 2004  
			 June 118,000 
			 July 30,000 
			 August 39,000 
			 September 41,000 
			 October 326,000 
			 November 643,000 
			 December 299,000 
			 2005  
			 January 1,246,000 
			 February 1,102,000 
			 March 1,788,000 
			 April 605,000 
			 May 30,823,000 
			 Total 37,060,000

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the statement of 22 June 2005, Official Report, columns 801–14 by the Paymaster General on tax credits, what estimate he has made of the number of cases in which in-year recovery of excess tax credits has occurred for recipients of (a) income support and (b) income-based jobseeker's allowance; what the average value was of the excess recovered; what proportion of these cases were disputed; and in how many of these cases (i) the overpayments were written off and (ii) additional tax credits were awarded.

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is not available.
	Tax credit awards can be adjusted during the year to take account of a change in circumstances or income. Where the amount payable is reduced, payments are adjusted with the aim of paying out the right amount for the year as a whole. This is explained in HMRC's Code of Practice 26 "What happens if we have paid you too much tax credit?", which is accessible at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/leaflets/cop26.htm. This is part of the normal operation of the tax credit system, and no count of such occurrences is maintained.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit overpayments there were in 2004–05; and what the value was.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of numbers and values of overpayments or underpayments for 2004–05 awards at 5 April 2005 will not be available until after family circumstances and incomes for 2004–05 have been finalised. The most recent estimates available for the number of overpaid awards and the value of these overpayments is for awards at 5 April 2004 based on final family circumstances and incomes for 2003–04. They appear in the HMRC publication "Child and Working Tax Credits Annual statistics. 2003–04 Payments." The estimates are based on samples and are subject to significant sampling uncertainty. This publication can be found on the HMRC website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-quarterly-stats.htm

Tax Credits

Philip Dunne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will revise the operation of tax credits complaints procedures so that individual case officers within HM Revenue and Customs are assigned to each case.

Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs deal with complaints about tax credits in accordance with the policy and procedures set out in their Code of Practice 1: 'Putting things right'. Individual complaints handlers, who are members of dedicated teams, are assigned to each complaint and remain responsible for it until it is resolved.

Taxis

David Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Department has spent on taxis in each of the last five years.

John Healey: The Treasury's estimated spending on taxis in the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			  £000 
			  Cost 
		
		
			 2000–01 143 
			 2001–02 120 
			 2002–03 163 
			 2003–04 151 
			 2004–05 149 
		
	
	The figures for 2002–03 onwards include courier costs, since the Treasury has a combined contract for courier and taxi services, and it is not feasible to disaggregate the courier element.

VAT

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the VAT gap was in each year since 1997.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of the VAT gap for recent years are available in the December 2004 paper "Measuring and Tackling Indirect Tax Losses", which is available in the Library of the House.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been issued to minors in each of the last five years, broken down by age.

Hazel Blears: The available information is given in the following table.
	
		The number of ASBOs issued at all courts, as reported to the Home Office, by age and period, up to 30 September 2004(latest available) England and Wales
		
			  Period 
			 Age 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2000(33) 2001 2002 2003 1 January 2004 to 30 September 2004 Total 
		
		
			 10 1 2 — 5 5 13 
			 11 3 10 5 10 13 41 
			 12 5 10 10 15 16 56 
			 13 S 17 13 34 48 120 
			 14 5 23 44 73 107 252 
			 15 21 49 51 119 168 408 
			 16 9 45 64 148 189 455 
			 17 9 28 48 110 188 383 
			 Total 61 184 235 514 734 1,728 
		
	
	(33) Between 1 April 1999 and 31 May 2000 data were collected on aggregate numbers only by police force area (pfa).

Asylum and Immigration

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will renegotiate the bilateral agreement with France to enable the UK to send asylum seekers arriving from France back to France to process their claims.

Tony McNulty: We have no intention to renegotiate the bilateral "gentleman's agreement". The asylum aspects have been replaced by the Dublin II and Eurodac regulations. These regulations have enabled us to return more asylum seekers, not just to France, but to other EU member states.

Asylum and Immigration

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum applicants from (a) Somalia, (b) Ethiopia, (c) Eritrea, (d) Democratic Republic of Congo, (e) Senegal and (f) Ivory Coast have been (i) granted exceptional leave to remain, (ii) granted indefinite leave to remain, (iii) refused leave and (iv) removed in each year since 2000.

Tony McNulty: The table shows initial decisions, appeal determinations and removals for nationals of Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal and the Ivory Coast since 2000. Decisions do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same period and appeal outcomes do not necessarily relate to initial decisions made in the same period.
	Information on asylum applications, initial decisions, appeals and removals are published quarterly. The next publication covering the second quarter of 2005 will be available in August 2005 on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	
		Initial decisions(36)(37) on asylum applications, 2000 to 2004
		
			   Cases considered under normal procedures Backlog clearance exercise 
			  Total initial decisions Grants of asylum Grants of ELR, HP or DL(38) Total refusals Granted asylum or ELR under backlog criteria(39)(40) Refused under backlog criteria(39)(41) 
		
		
			 Somalia   
			 2000 11,325 5,310 3,575 2,365 55 15 
			 2001 8,430 2,910 1,995 3,525 n/a n/a 
			 2002 6,735 2,515 1,405 2,815 n/a n/a 
			 2003(42) 6,050 1,665 550 3,835 n/a n/a 
			 2004(42) 3,280 460 465 2,360 n/a n/a 
			
			 Ethiopia   
			 2000 895 40 80 355 390 30 
			 2001 1,175 90 240 845 n/a n/a 
			 2002 705 50 170 485 n/a n/a 
			 2003(42) 740 15 135 590 n/a n/a 
			 2004(42) 660 15 130 515 n/a n/a 
			
			 Eritrea   
			 2000 705 35 60 330 265 15 
			 2001 1,305 120 230 955 n/a n/a 
			 2002 1,110 140 210 755 n/a n/a 
			 2003(42) 1,115 65 175 875 n/a n/a 
			 2004(42) 995 75 185 735 n/a n/a 
			
			 Dem Rep. of Congo
			 2000 2,005 145 180 990 610 75 
			 2001 2,475 325 340 1,815 n/a n/a 
			 2002 2,050 155 305 1,590 n/a n/a 
			 2003(42) 1,970 90 200 1,685 n/a n/a 
			 2004(42) 1,765 55 175 1,530 n/a n/a 
			 Senegal   
			 2000 10 * * 5 * — 
			 2001 15 — — 15 n/a n/a 
			 2002 25 * * 25 n/a n/a 
			 2003(42) 30 — — 30 n/a n/a 
			 2004(42) 25 — * 25 n/a n/a 
			
			 Ivory Coast   
			 2000 365 15 15 265 70 5 
			 2001 500 20 25 455 n/a n/a 
			 2002 225 10 15 200 n/a n/a 
			 2003(42) 515 20 25 470 n/a n/a 
			 2004(42) 290 5 15 270 n/a n/a 
		
	
	n/a = not applicable
	(36) Figures rounded to nearest 5, with '*' = 1 or 2.
	(37) Information is of initial determination decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.
	(38) Humanitarian protection and discretionary leave replaced exceptional leave to remain from 1 April 2003.
	(39) Cases decided under pragmatic measures aimed at reducing the pre '96 Act asylum backlog.
	(40) May include a small number of cases where asylum has been granted.
	(41) May include a small number of cases where the application has been refused on substantive grounds,
	(42) Provisional figures.

Asylum and Immigration

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the investigation into the complaints made by Angeline Bure, Ashley S. Tshabangu and Anastancia Zulu, Zimbabwean nationals, against the escort service RSI in relation to the execution of a deportation order on 1 May has been completed.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 30 June 2005
	Ms Bure, Ms Tshabangu and Ms Zulu have all alleged assault by the escorts contracted to escort them on their removal.
	In all cases where a detainee alleges assault by the escorts, the escorting Contract Monitor will first refer the matter to the police as the appropriate investigating authority. The Immigration Service will co-operate fully with any police enquiries. The Contract Monitor will also consider whether the allegation is such that it is appropriate to suspend the certification of the escorting officer(s) involved.
	On completion of any police inquiry, the Contract Monitor will also conduct an investigation into the allegation under the UK Immigration Service's internal complaints procedures.
	The investigations into the complaints made by Ms Bure, Ms Tshabangu and Ms Zulu are still outstanding with the police.

Asylum and Immigration

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum applications from Zimbabwe have been successful in the past 18 months; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: Information on asylum applications, initial decision outcomes and appeal outcomes for nationals of Zimbabwe are published quarterly and annually. The information requested is given in the following table, and published in the annual bulletin Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 2003, and (data for 2004 and Q1 2005) Asylum Statistics: 1st Quarter 2005 United Kingdom. Copies are available from the Library of the House and on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html
	
		Asylum applications(48) received in the United Kingdom, excluding dependants, and initial decisions(49) on applications, nationals of Zimbabwe, Q4 2003—Q1 2005 Principal applicants
		
			  Applications Decisions 
			  Total Total decisions Grants of asylum Grants of HP(50) Grants of DL(50) Total refusals 
		
		
			 Q4 2003 680 950 115 — 5 830 
			 Q1 2004 545 845 90 — 10 740 
			 Q2 2004 505 550 55 — 5 490 
			 Q3 2004 535 630 45 (51)— 10 575 
			 Q4 2004 460 530 25 (51)— 5 500 
			 Q1 2005 220 330 20 (51)— 5 300 
		
	
	(48) Figures are provisional and rounded to nearest 5.
	(49) Information is of initial determination decisions, excluding the outcome of appeals or other subsequent decisions.
	(50) Humanitarian protection and discretionary leave replaced exceptional leave to remain from 1 April 2003.
	(51) Figures = 1 or 2.

Asylum and Immigration

Bob Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will review the immigration process for overseas doctors who have passed the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board Test.

Tony McNulty: The provisions for overseas doctors coming to the UK to take the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board Test were reviewed earlier this year. After consultation with the Department of Health, General Medical Council and British Medical Association, these provisions were incorporated into the Immigration Rules on 15 March 2005. We have no further plans to review these specific provisions.
	We are in the process of reviewing the immigration system for all those coming to the UK to work, train or study, following the publication of the five year strategy "Controlling our borders: Making migration work for Britain" on 7 February 2005.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of the incidence of false positive alerts from the automatic number plate recognition system.

Paul Goggins: The Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) pilot evaluation report, "Driving Crime Down—Denying Criminals the Use of the Roads" highlighted inadequacies in the accuracy of various intelligence databases available to the Police Service. Not only does poor quality data lead to police time being wasted but it can also detract from the real aim of ANPR, which is to deny criminals the use of the roads.
	Work is advancing to improve the timeliness of the Driving Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) databases that are used by ANPR. The DVLA will shortly have Criminal Justice Extranet (CJX) (this provides police forces with telephony, internet access and a secure extranet) accreditation to allow full electronic updating to police forces on a regular basis. In addition, bar coding of Vehicle Excise Licenses at point of issue and vehicle documentation registration improvements should further improve matters during the coming year.
	Plans are also in hand to ensure reports generated by the Police National Computer are accurate and that only current information, uploaded from police local databases, is used in ANPR systems.

Computer Crime

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of computer (a) hacking, (b) fraud and (c) theft his Department recorded in each year since 2001–02; and for each year on how many occasions computer systems have been illegally accessed by computer hackers (i) within and (ii) outside his Department.

Charles Clarke: Home Office records show that there were no cases of computer hacking or fraud detected from 2001 to date.
	The number of incidents of computer theft recorded was 14 in 2001, 19 in 2002, 59 in 2003, 140 in 2004, and 95 in 2005 (to date).

Correspondence

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the letter of 14 January, from the hon. Member for Central Ayrshire, regarding the application of Edward Salmon of McDonald Drive in Irvine for a British passport.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 21 June 2005
	I replied to my hon. Friend on 30 June 2005.

Drugs

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment his Department has made of the health effects of prolonged cannabis use.

Paul Goggins: The advice contained in the report of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on the classification of cannabis, published in March 2002. included a wide-ranging assessment of the risks to human health from cannabis use.
	The Advisory Council found that there were several serious consequences of prolonged cannabis use, which included that repeated cannabis use leads to a significant proportion of regular users becoming dependent upon the drug.
	The health risks of using cannabis are also described in guidance commissioned by the Department of Health, published in September 2003, and entitled "Dangerousness of Drugs—A Guide to the Risks and Harms associated with Substance Misuse".
	The smoking of cannabis presents a health risk with an increased incidence of bronchitis, asthma and lung cancer as well as disorders of the heart and circulation. Preliminary studies of lung function in regular cannabis smokers have not found a major cause for concern in the majority, but some severe cases of lung damage have been reported in very heavy users.
	Cannabis use can worsen existing mental illness, such as schizophrenia, and it slows recovery.
	We continue to monitor the health effects carefully. My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary asked the Advisory Council in March to consider all the relevant evidence from recent studies into the links and associations between taking cannabis and developing mental health problems. He wants to be clear whether the evidence would alter the council's overall assessment of the appropriate classification of cannabis. He also asked for advice on the claims of greater prevalence of increased strength cannabis. It is intended that the council will have concluded its assessment in time to report back to my hon. Friend by the end of the year.

Drugs

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what alternatives to the charitable sector there are for the provision of facilities for (a) drug treatment and testing orders and (b) drug rehabilitation requirements in St. Albans;
	(2)  what non-charitable premises are available in St. Albans for the provision of (a) treatment testing and (b) rehabilitation of offenders by his Department; and what provision there is other than the charitable sector for (i) through care and (ii) after-care elements in St. Albans.

Paul Goggins: The non-charitable sector providers for drug treatment and testing orders (DTTOs) and drug rehabilitation requirements (DRRs) in St. Albans are:
	A consultant psychiatrist, employed by the Health Partnership Trust, who undertakes prescribing and delivers any other medical interventions that may be required, as part of St. Albans Community Drug and Alcohol Team (CDAT) based at Edinburgh House, London Road, St. Albans, AL1 1TR.
	Hertfordshire Probation Area (HPA), which has statutory responsibility for the supervision and enforcement of DTTOs/DRRs and delivers accredited offending behaviour programmes at 62–72 Victoria Street, St. Albans, AL1 3XH.
	HPA's Victoria Street premises are used by Drugcare, a charitable foundation, for the provision of assessments and/or counselling for offenders with drug problems who are subject to community penalties, other than DTTOs/DRRs.
	The non-charitable throughcare and aftercare element i.e. statutory provision for the rehabilitation of drug misusing offenders in St. Albans is provided by Hertfordshire Drug Interventions Programme (DIP). Through the Hertfordshire DIP, some of the elements of throughcare and aftercare provision for clients and potential clients is provided in St. Albans every Friday currently at SS Alban and Stephen Catholic Church, where they can be assessed, drug tested and offered further support through the dedicated team.

EU Immigration Controls

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress towards setting up an EU joint border force.

Tony McNulty: There are no plans to create an EU joint border force.
	The EU's Hague Programme refers to a feasibility study into a "European system of Border Guards" but makes no commitment to establishing one. The feasibility study will take place in 2007, as part of the review of the recently-established European Border Agency.
	Like many EU member states, the Government remain unconvinced of the need for a European Border force. The case for a centrally managed, multi-national European Corps of Border Guards has not yet been made. There are many practical actions and concrete measures that can be taken forward with EU partners without the need to go as far as creating a European Border Guard.
	But we fully support the Border Agency, which will play a key role in co-ordinating joint operations between EU member states to strengthen the EU's external border. The UK supports the increased number of joint activities and co-operation between member states at the EU external borders where that activity is conducted on an operationally focused, intelligence-led basis. Such action has the potential to enhance the security of the EU's external borders to the benefit of all member states. It should complement, not replace, the work of national border services.
	We also welcome the statement in the Programme that the control and surveillance of external borders falls within the sphere of national border authorities—this is a matter of sovereignty.
	During the UK presidency we will continue to contribute actively to EU work on strengthening the EU's external borders and make it a priority to achieve progress in this area.

Exorcism

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to monitor the activities of certain churches in London that are known or believed to carry out exorcisms or similar procedures.

Paul Goggins: The Home Office does not monitor places of religious worship.
	Exorcism is a legitimate activity provided it is practiced within the confines of the law.
	It would be a matter for the police to decide the circumstances in which there had been a breach in the law.

Extradition

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on their extradition regime arrangements with the United States of America.

Andy Burnham: holding answer 29 June 2005
	None. Any bilateral extradition arrangements between another EU member state and the USA are strictly a matter for the countries concerned.

Extradition

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many requests for extradition were received in (a) 2000, (b) 2001, (c) 2002, (d) 2003 and (e) 2004 from each of the countries that were the subject of the Part 2 Territories Designation Order 2003.

Andy Burnham: The following are figures for the number of extradition requests to the UK from countries that were designated as extradition partners under the Extradition Act 2003 (Designation of Part 2 Territories) Order 2003.
	
		
			 Designated as extradition partners Number of extradition requests 
		
		
			 2000  
			 USA 17 
			 Germany 11 
			 Italy 9 
			 France 7 
			 The Netherlands 5 
			 Switzerland 3 
			 Czech Republic 2 
			 Greece 2 
			 Cyprus 1 
			 Luxembourg 1 
			 Australia 1 
			 Romania 1 
			 Hong Kong SAR 1 
			 Iceland 1 
			 Malawi 1 
			 Ukraine 1 
			 Turkey 1 
			 Uganda 1 
			 All other countries 0 
			 Total for 2000 66 
			   
			 2001  
			 Germany 17 
			 USA 16 
			 Czech Republic 16 
			 Italy 14 
			 The Netherlands 11 
			 Switzerland 7 
			 France 7 
			 Lithuania 5 
			 Poland 4 
			 Turkey 3 
			 Bulgaria 2 
			 Estonia 2 
			 Russian Federation 2 
			 Austria 2 
			 Luxembourg 1 
			 Peru 1 
			 Greece 1 
			 Canada 1 
			 Ukraine 1 
			 Latvia 1 
			 Hong Kong SAR 1 
			 Norway 1 
			 Total for 2001 116 
			   
			 2002  
			 Italy 16 
			 Germany 13 
			 The Netherlands 12 
			 Czech Republic 12 
			 France 10 
			 USA 8 
			 Lithuania 8 
			 Slovakia 3 
			 Russian Federation 3 
			 The Bahamas 3 
			 Turkey 3 
			 Switzerland 3 
			 Albania 3 
			 Zimbabwe 2 
			 Swaziland 2 
			 Tanzania 2 
			 Moldova 1 
			 Cyprus 1 
			 India 1 
			 Norway 1 
			 Bolivia 1 
			 South Africa 1 
			 Slovenia 1 
			 Luxembourg 1 
			 Poland 1 
			 Columbia 1 
			 Australia 1 
			 Grenada 1 
			 Austria 1 
			 New Zealand 1 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 1 
			 Croatia 1 
			 Total for 2002 119 
			   
			 2003  
			 USA 14 
			 Germany 12 
			 The Netherlands 11 
			 Czech Republic 11 
			 Italy 8 
			 France 8 
			 Lithuania 6 
			 Australia 4 
			 Hungary 2 
			 Poland 2 
			 Argentina 2 
			 Switzerland 1 
			 India 1 
			 Monaco 1 
			 Romania 1 
			 Norway 1 
			 Uganda 1 
			 Azerbaijan 1 
			 Zimbabwe 1 
			 Turkey 1 
			 Greece 1 
			 Slovenia 1 
			 Bulgaria 1 
			 Canada 1 
			 Total for 2003 93 
			   
			 2004  
			 USA 35 
			 Czech Republic 9 
			 Germany 9 
			 Italy 8 
			 France 6 
			 Russia 4 
			 Lithuania 4 
			 Australia 3 
			 Albania 3 
			 Poland 3 
			 The Netherlands 2 
			 New Zealand 2 
			 Estonia 2 
			 Bulgaria 1 
			 Turkey 1 
			 Croatia 1 
			 Canada 1 
			 Romania 1 
			 Zambia 1 
			 Ukraine l 
			 Slovakia 1 
			 Total for 2004 98 
		
	
	Furthermore the figures for the first six months of this year, up to 30 June 2005 are as follows:
	
		
			 Designated as extradition partners Number of extradition requests 
		
		
			 2005 (up to June)  
			 Romania 9 
			 Italy 3 
			 USA 3 
			 Canada 2 
			 India 2 
			 Israel 2 
			 Albania 1 
			 Australia 1 
			 Croatia 1 
			 Czech Republic 1 
			 Georgia 1 
			 Germany 1 
			 Mauritius 1 
			 Russian Federation 1 
			 Turkey 1 
			 Total 30 
		
	
	Note:
	1. Countries are not listed above for those years in which they made no extradition requests to the UK.
	2. After the Extradition Act 2003 (Designation of Part 2 Territories) Order 2003 came into force on 1 January 2004, the following countries that were originally designated under that Order, became designated as Part 1 territories under the Extradition Act 2003, on the dates given as follows: 27 July 2004 Austria, Cyprus, France, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia. 1 March 2005 Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Slovakia.

Gangmasters

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of illegal gangmaster activity have been (a) detected and (b) successfully prosecuted in the last five years; and how many migrant workers were involved in each case.

Tony McNulty: The information requested is not held centrally as data on illegal working operations carried out by the Immigration Service does not identify where there was gangmaster involvement.
	However, examples of some high-profile, police- led gangmaster prosecutions where the Immigration Service assisted are in the following table.
	
		
			  Date  Gangmaster  Offences Number of illegal workers  Sentences 
		
		
			 March 2004 V. Cox Facilitation and forgery Up to 1,700 7 years 
			  J. Cox Facilitation and forgery  7 years 
			 April 2004 D. Mutch   6 years 
			  R. Kulish1/2 1/2  7 years(52) 
			  J. Carter Money laundering, using false Around 250 4½ years 
			  L.V. Linuza HO documents to provide workers  2 years 9 months(52) 
			  V. Kulish1/2 1/2  2 years 9 months(52) 
			  D. Lyashkov   3 years(52) 
			 February 2005 V. Solomka Money laundering and facilitating illegal immigration Up to 700 7 years 
		
	
	(52) The court also recommended deportation on completion of prison sentence.

LD50

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the evidential basis is for the permitted use of the mouse LD50 procedure by the manufacturers of (a) Dysport and (b) Botox; and if he will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: International and UK regulations relating to the safety and efficacy of medicines require the testing of botulinum toxin products at various stages of their processing, from harvesting through to marketing for use as a prescription-only medicine. The European Pharmacopoeia states that the potency of the toxin as a reconstituted product is determined by an LD50 assay in mice, the reference method, or by a method validated with respect to the LD50 assay. Unfortunately there is at present no accepted and validated alternative to the LD50 test for determining the potency of botulinum toxin at the production stage. The Home Office and all others, including the laboratories and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, concerned with conducting and regulating such testing are committed to moving to less severe testing procedures as soon as it becomes practicable to do so. The laboratories involved in ensuring that botulinum toxin products are safe for therapeutic use, the only use for which animal tests are licensed, are already gaining expertise in non-animal methods.

LD50

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of alternatives to the use of the mouse LD50 procedure.

Andy Burnham: The mouse LD50 test is used to determine potency, for example, of botulinum neurotoxins used for the medical treatment of patients with certain neurological and other conditions. We pay close attention to technical progress in the field of alternatives and are aware that refined and replacement tests for the LD50 have been developed. Once they have been validated and published in the European Pharmacopoeia as alternatives to the mouse LD50 test, we will stop licensing the mouse LD50 test for this purpose, except where there is specific scientific justification for its continued use.

Magic Mushrooms

Brian Iddon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with people and organisations outside his Department about possible risks associated with using magic mushrooms;
	(2)  what research his Department has (a) carried out and (b) commissioned to assess the risks of using magic mushrooms;
	(3)  whether he has sought the advice of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on the possible risks associated with using magic mushrooms;
	(4)  for what reasons magic mushrooms have been categorised as a class A drug.

Paul Goggins: Psilocin, the active ingredient of magic mushrooms, is a class A drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. It is a powerful hallucinogen, placed by the United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances 1971 in schedule 1, the highest level of control. Magic mushrooms are also already controlled as a class A drug under the 1971 Act if they have been prepared (e.g. dried) or are in the form of a product. Section 21 of the Drugs Act 2005 extends the existing classification to such mushrooms whatever form they are in. The Home Office discussed what is now section 21 of the Drugs Act with the Department of Health, HM Revenue and Customs, the Crown Prosecution Service and the police. We maintain that it is already unlawful for magic mushrooms to be sold as a product. It has proved difficult to satisfy the courts on what constitutes a product, hence this clarification of the law. Section 21 is not a new control on a new substance and consequently it was not necessary to carry out or commission new research. The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) was informed of the proposed change to the law on 6 December 2004. On 19 May 2005, the ACMD agreed the need for regulations to make an exception from the offence of possession in certain circumstances. The chair of the ACMD, Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, wrote to me on two June setting out the ACMD's support for the measures.

Motoring Offences

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many convictions which have resulted in custodial sentences there have been for (a) drink-driving and (b) other motoring offences in each year since 1997, broken down by (i) type and (ii) gender; and what each figure represents as a percentage of the total number of convictions resulting in custodial sentences.

Hazel Blears: Information taken from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database on convictions and custodial sentences for drink-driving and other motoring offences by gender 1997 to 2003 (latest available) is given in the following table. Data for 2004 will be available early in 2006.
	
		Table G findings of guilt and sentence of immediate custody(53) at all courts for motoring offences, England and Wales, 2003 Number of offences
		
			  Male 
			 Offence Total findings of guilt Immediate custody Percentage 
		
		
			 Driving etc after consuming alcohol or taking drugs:
			 Unfit to drive through drink or drugs (impairment) 2,031 331 16 
			 Driving with alcohol in the blood above the prescribed limit 69,233 4,591 7 
			 Driving and failing to provide specimen for analysis (breath, blood or urine) 8,199 1,015 12 
			 In charge of a motor vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs (impairment) 416 45 11 
			 In charge of motor vehicle, with alcohol in the blood above the prescribed limit 1,730 79 5 
			 In charge of motor vehicle, and failing to provide specimen for analysis (breath, blood or urine) 868 75 9 
			 
			 Other motoring offences:
			 Causing death by dangerous driving 254 238 94 
			 Causing death by careless driving under influence of drink or drugs 62 61 98 
			 Causing death by aggravated vehicle taking 11 9 82 
			 Causing bodily harm 21 11 52 
			 Dangerous driving 6,531 3,072 47 
			 Failing to stop after accident, etc 8,971 445 5 
			 Failing to report accident within 24 hours 5,540 141 3 
			 Failing to give name and address after an accident 356 15 4 
			 Aggravated vehicle taking—driving dangerously, causing injury or damage 5,385 1,788 33 
			 Aggravated vehicle taking—criminal damage of £5,000 or under 1,947 479 25 
			 Unauthorised taking or the theft of a motor vehicle 14,045 4,104 29 
			 Theft of a motor vehicle 2,148 1,030 48 
			 Driving while disqualified 53,206 24,735 46 
			 Driving after false declaration as to physical fitness etc 19 4 21 
			 Other driving licence related offences (excluding forgery) 3,234 3 0 
			 Fraud and forgery—driving licence 182 7 4 
			 Fraud and forgery—insurance certificate 639 7 1 
			 Fraud and forgery—registration and licensing 5,186 34 1 
			 Fraud and forgery—work record 860 48 6 
			 Fraud and forgery—operator's licence 35 2 6 
			 Other offences of neglect of traffic directions 6,688 1 0 
			 Failing to give name and address etc when required 1,845 14 1 
		
	
	
		Number of offences
		
			  Female 
			 Offence Total findings of guilt Immediate custody Percentage 
		
		
			 Driving etc after consuming alcohol or taking drugs:
			 Unfit to drive through drink or drugs (impairment) 230 8 3 
			 Driving with alcohol in the blood above the prescribed limit 8,479 138 2 
			 Driving and failing to provide specimen for analysis (breath, blood or urine) 986 17 2 
			 In charge of a motor vehicle while unfit through drink or drugs (impairment) 33 3 9 
			 In charge of motor vehicle, with alcohol in the blood above the prescribed limit 156 3 2 
			 In charge of motor vehicle, and failing to provide specimen for analysis (breath, blood or urine) 98 3 3 
			 
			 Other motoring offences:
			 Causing death by dangerous driving 18 8 44 
			 Causing death by careless driving under influence of drink or drugs 4 3 75 
			 Causing death by aggravated vehicle taking — — — 
			 Causing bodily harm 1 — — 
			 Dangerous driving 257 56 22 
			 Failing to stop after accident, etc 1,209 10 1 
			 Failing to report accident within 24 hours 962 2 0 
			 Failing to give name and address after an accident 51 — — 
			 Aggravated vehicle taking—driving dangerously, causing injury or damage 257 39 15 
			 Aggravated vehicle taking—criminal damage of £5,000 or under 101 9 9 
			 Unauthorised taking or the theft of a motor vehicle 737 113 15 
			 Theft of a motor vehicle 96 24 25 
			 Driving while disqualified 2,421 665 27 
			 Driving after false declaration as to physical fitness etc 2 — — 
			 Other driving licence related offences (excluding forgery) 526 — — 
			 Fraud and forgery—driving licence 18 — — 
			 Fraud and forgery—insurance certificate 34 — — 
			 Fraud and forgery—registration and licensing 462 — — 
			 Fraud and forgery—work record 2 — — 
			 Fraud and forgery—operator's licence 1 — — 
			 Other offences of neglect of traffic directions 573 — — 
			 Failing to give name and address etc when required 194 2 1 
		
	
	(53) Immediate custody = detention and training order, young offender institution and unsuspended sentence of imprisonment.

Retail Crime Initiative (Hemel Hempstead)

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what assessment his Department will make of the Hemel Hempstead Shopwatch scheme as a model for implementation in other parts of the country;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the implementation of the Retail Crime Initiative in Hemel Hempstead; how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions have resulted from the initiative; and what budget has been provided.

Hazel Blears: Hemel Hempstead Retail Crime Initiative was awarded the Safer Shopping Award in September 2002, through the British Retail Consortium. This award, developed by the Home Office in co-operation with the retail sector, recognises partnerships that have a developed set of protocols and management procedures which comply with the laws around data sharing and issuing exclusion orders.
	We are committed to developing and increasing the number of schemes such as the Hemel Hempstead initiative. This is why we have given £899,000 to fund the setting up of an Action against Business Crime Group to develop 100 new town centre business crime partnerships across England and Wales to the same standard.
	No separate statistics are kept by Hertfordshire police relating to prosecutions and convictions directly resulting from the Retail Crime Initiative and the scheme has not received any additional Home Office funds.

Sexual Offences

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the detection rate for (a) rape and (b) other sexual offences was in 2003–04 in each police force area in England and Wales.

Charles Clarke: The information requested is given in the following table. The Home Office are currently undertaking research to look in detail at detection rates in rape and sexual assault cases in England and Wales, including variation between forces.
	
		Detection rates for sexual offences 2003–04 Percentage
		
			 Police force area Rape(54) Other sexual offences 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 21 22 
			 Bedfordshire 21 41 
			 Cambridgeshire 15 30 
			 Cheshire 29 40 
			 Cleveland 31 51 
			 Cumbria 30 46 
			 Derbyshire 33 37 
			 Devon and Cornwall 19 33 
			 Dorset 17 31 
			 Durham 71 69 
			 Dyfed-Powys 25 46 
			 Essex 29 36 
			 Gloucestershire 28 35 
			 Greater Manchester 32 30 
			 Gwent 78 57 
			 Hampshire 34 36 
			 Hertfordshire 50 41 
			 Humberside 20 30 
			 Kent 27 29 
			 Lancashire 35 41 
			 Leicestershire 28 28 
			 Lincolnshire 28 41 
			 London, City of 0 44 
			 Merseyside 43 41 
			 Metropolitan Police 33 33 
			 Norfolk 18 38 
			 North Wales 29 42 
			 North Yorkshire 41 50 
			 Northamptonshire 37 52 
			 Northumbria 30 35 
			 Nottinghamshire 27 47 
			 South Wales 53 36 
			 South Yorkshire 38 38 
			 Staffordshire 32 41 
			 Suffolk 26 43 
			 Surrey 35 34 
			 Sussex 24 31 
			 Thames Valley 18 29 
			 Warwickshire 19 42 
			 West Mercia 35 41 
			 West Midlands 32 30 
			 West Yorkshire 31 32 
			 Wiltshire 41 37 
			 Total 31 35 
		
	
	(54) Includes rape of a female and rape of a male.

Student Visas

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department from which countries of origin students with student visas are required to report changes of residence; and how many such changes in residence were reported to each police centre where such reports are made in the last two complete academic years.

Tony McNulty: People who are given leave to enter or remain as students, and who are "relevant foreign nationals" for the purposes of Part 10 of the Immigration Rules are normally required to register with the police as a condition of their leave. They are also required to inform the police of any change of address.
	The countries or territories whose nationals or citizens are relevant foreign nationals for the purposes of Part 10 are listed in Appendix 2 to the Immigration Rules.
	Information about changes of address is recorded by the police force concerned. It is not reported to the Home Office, and information about the numbers of such changes could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Adult/Community Learning

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she has taken to encourage schools, including schools which do not fall under local authority control, to make their facilities available for use by the wider community.

Beverley Hughes: We have recently issued an extended schools prospectus, which sets out our expectation that schools will need to consult with parents, young people and the wider community on making the best use of their facilities to the community. We want all schools to enable pupils, parents, families and the wider community to access a core range of services by 2010. The core offer will include schools providing wider community access to ICT, sports, arts and other facilities including adult learning. The prospectus gives some helpful pointers to schools as to how to start developing services, including the need to consult with the wider community to ensure they provide services that meet local needs and demand. Schools can play an important role in supporting their local communities, on key issues such as poverty, community cohesion and neighbourhood regeneration. The prospectus is available on our Teachernet website, together with further guidance, practical advice and case studies. We are adding to this material all the time as work develops. We have committed additional funding to support schools in developing extended services. The Department has made approximately £160 million of funding available since 2003 and we will be making a further £680 million available over the 2006–08 period including £250 million that will go direct to all schools.
	The Department has also asked the National Remodelling Team to take a lead role in supporting local authorities and schools through the development of extended services, and we are also funding "ContinYou" to run the Extended Schools Support Service, to offer further practical help.

Adult/Community Learning

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her Department's priorities are for the provision of adult and community learning; and what targets have been set.

Phil Hope: The priorities for adult and community learning provided through local education authorities remain (i) to sustain a wide range of learning opportunities to gain skills for personal and community development and (ii) to provide opportunities for those who want a "first step" on the learning ladder before committing themselves to further learning leading to qualifications. There are no specific targets for adult and community learning.
	The Department for Education and Skills will shortly receive proposals from the LSC on the reform of the funding and planning arrangements for learning which does not lead directly to qualifications. This includes First Steps and Personal and Community Development Learning for Adults. The proposals will cover such provision both by local education authorities and further education colleges. The objectives of the reforms are: to maintain the safeguard for the continued availability of courses for personal and community development set out in the 2003 and 2005 Skills White Papers; to fund "first steps learning" on the same basis regardless of the provider; to ensure an equitable distribution of public funding between geographical areas; and a proper balance between public funding, and financial contributions by individuals.

Children's Commissioner for Wales

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what memoranda of understanding have been issued to address (a) issues arising from children in Wales appealing to the Children's Commissioner for Wales on non-devolved matters and (b) cross-border issues.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 30 June 2005
	Children's Commissioner for England's remit is set out in the Children Act 2004. In line with the Devolution Settlements, the Children's Commissioner has the function of promoting awareness of the views and interests of children in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in so far as they relate to reserved matters.
	The existing responsibilities of the Commissioners in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are unchanged, and children throughout the UK will in the first instance be able to approach their local commissioner on any matter, devolved or reserved. Children will not be expected to know the intricacies of the various devolution settlements.
	We anticipated that the various UK Commissioners would draw up their own co-operation agreements appropriate to local circumstances but we have left them to act as they saw fit in this respect.
	The Children's Commissioner, Professor Al Aynsley-Green, has met with the other UK Commissioners and discussed this issue with them. His office is currently working on drafting a memorandum of understanding. The Commissioner is due to meet with the other Commissioners in August and ways of working together will be a key area of discussion.

Children's Commissioner for Wales

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what memoranda of understanding have been issued to ensure effective communication between the Children's Commissioner for England and the Children's Commissioner for Wales.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 30 June 2005
	The Children's Commissioner for England's remit is set out in the Children Act 2004. In line with the Devolution Settlements, the Children's Commissioner for England has the function of promoting awareness of the views and interests of children in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in so far as they relate to reserved matters.
	The existing responsibilities of the Commissioners in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are unchanged, and children throughout the UK will in the first instance be able to approach their local commissioner on any matter, devolved or reserved. Children will not be expected to know the intricacies of the various devolution settlements.
	Furthermore, the Children Act explicitly states that when the Children's Commissioner considers reserved matters, he "must take account of the views of, and any work undertaken by" the Commissioners in the Devolved Administrations. The Government have always emphasised that the UK Commissioners should be left to draw up any further co-operation agreements among themselves, in order that they could be made appropriate to local circumstances.
	The Children's Commissioner for England, Professor Al Aynsley-Green, has met with the other UK Commissioners and discussed this issue with them. His office is currently working on drafting a memorandum of understanding. The Commissioner is due to meet with the other Commissioners in August and ways of working together will be a key area of discussion.

Consultants

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what value for money procedures the Department uses when considering the use of consultants.

Maria Eagle: My Department uses the following value for money procedures when considering the use of consultants.
	Firstly, we undertake a process to establish the most appropriate way of meeting a requirement. This includes a consideration of the options including using existing staff, fixed term appointments and secondees. Consultants will only be engaged when they can provide:
	specialist skills or expertise not available in house;
	additional skilled resource on a temporary basis;
	a broader perspective drawn from work with other organisations;
	an objective/independent change agent or facilitator; or
	an independent view of current issues.
	Secondly, if a decision is made to engage a consultant a further process is undertaken to establish the most appropriate way of selection. This may be through (a) a competitive tender, (b) selecting from either the Department's, Office of Government Commerce's or another Government Department's framework agreement, or (c) by single tendering where certain qualifying conditions are met. The conditions for single tendering are where:
	it is known (not assumed) that only one supplier can meet the requirement;
	the cost of open or selective tendering would exceed the potential for saving, e.g. based on the results of a recent tender exercise;
	the continuity of knowledge or synergy with previous work is an overriding consideration; or
	you have received an unsolicited proposal that contains ideas of concepts that you wish to use because it meets your needs, these ideas are the property of the tenderer and may be legally protected under intellectual property rights.
	In all cases proposals from consultants are systematically evaluated on a whole life cost basis with a view to obtaining best value for money using pre-prepared criteria. Evaluation looks at the economic, financial and technical capability of the consultant and includes among others, financial stability of the organisation, past experience, management structure, key personnel, ability to meet the requirement, level of quality and costs.
	As mentioned earlier my Department maintains a list of consultancy framework providers that have been tendered through the Official Journal of the European Union and which meets most of the external consultancy needs of the Department. These provide additional value for money savings through the competitive prices obtained during the competition and also by removing the administrative burden of each requirement being tendered separately. Office of Government Commerce and certain other Government Departments maintain similar lists.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of education maintenance allowances in increasing (a) participation and (b) attainment in (i) school sixth forms, (ii) sixth form colleges and (iii) colleges of further education.

Maria Eagle: The evaluation of the education maintenance allowance (EMA) was one of the most extensive ever undertaken. It was piloted in 10 areas and 11 control areas and involved following two cohorts of young people over a four year period. The results showed that EMA increased participation in further education among eligible 16-year-olds in the pilot areas by 5.9 percentage points. This is equivalent to 3.8 percentage points across the whole cohort nationally. The impact was highest among groups with previously lowest participation rates, particularly young men, those with moderate or lower attainment at age 16 and those from lower socio-economic groups.
	EMA was rolled out for 16-year-olds in all areas from September 2004 and will be fully rolled out for all 16 to 18-year-olds by 2006/07. The DfES and LSC are carefully monitoring progress and will be undertaking continuing work to assess the effectiveness of EMA. To date, EMA has been paid to a total of 296,000 young people, including 216,000 16-year-olds, which is over 99 per cent. of the numbers projected.
	Evaluation information is not readily available to show the impact of EMA on participation separately in school sixth forms, sixth form colleges and colleges of further education. However, the latest participation figures which were published today (SFR 27/2005) show that, in 2004, of the 73.3 per cent. of 16-year-olds in full-time education, 29.5 per cent. are in school sixth forms, 10.4 per cent. are in sixth form colleges and 27 per cent. are in colleges of further education. A further 6.4 per cent. are in independent schools or HE institutions. The increases, in particular over 2003 across different post-16 providers, are similar.

Foster Care

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were taken into care in each Government Office region in (a) 2002, (b) 2003 and (c) 2004; how many of those children were aged under two years; and how many of those aged under two years how many were siblings of a child previously taken into care under the age of two years.

Maria Eagle: The figures requested are shown in the following table. Information on siblings of children looked after are not collected centrally.
	
		Children who started to be looked after in the years ending 31 March 2002 to 2004 by age(62)(63)(64): England Number
		
			  Age on starting, year ending 31 March 
			  2002(65) 2003(65) 2004(66) 
			  Under two years Two years or over Total Under two years Two years or over Total Under two years Two years or over Total 
		
		
			 England 5,400 19,800 25,200 5,300 19,500 24,800 5,300 19,300 24,600 
			   
			 North East 370 1,210 1,580 330 990 1,330 350 1,110 1,460 
			 North West 850 2,910 3,760 790 2,690 3,480 880 2,700 3,580 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 670 1,820 2,490 700 1,970 2,670 640 1,680 2,320 
			 East Midlands 480 1,480 1,960 370 1,250 1,620 390 1,310 1,700 
			 West Midlands 650 2,300 2,950 620 2,360 2,980 610 2,010 2,630 
			 East of England 420 1,600 2,020 390 1,740 2,130 520 1,750 2,270 
			 Inner London 410 1,830 2,240 410 1,680 2,090 460 1,880 2,340 
			 Outer London 470 2,360 2,830 530 2,390 2,920 470 2,550 3,020 
			 South East 580 2,380 2,960 690 2,480 3,160 580 2,250 2,830 
			 South West 490 2,060 2,550 460 2,040 2,490 450 2,030 2,480 
		
	
	(62) Figures exclude children who start to be looked after under an agreed series of short term placements.
	(63) Only the first occasion on which a child started to be looked after in the year has been counted.
	(64) National figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. Regional figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
	(65) Figures are derived from the SSDA903 one-third sample survey.
	(66) Figures are taken from the SSDA903 return, which in 2003–04 covered all children looked after.

Foster Care

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were in external foster care of local authorities in each Government office region in (a) 2002, (b) 2003 and (c) 2004.

Maria Eagle: The figures requested are shown in the following table.
	
		Children looked after at 31 March in a foster placement 2002 to 2004(67)(68): England Numbers
		
			  Year ending 31 March 
			  2002 2003 
			  Arranged through agency(69) Arranged through LA(69) Total(70) Arranged through agency(69) Arranged through LA(69) Total(70) 
		
		
			 England 5,200 34,100 39,200 6,400 34,700 41,100 
			 North East 150 2,060 2,220 200 2,040 2,250 
			 North West 410 5,670 6,090 550 5,780 6,340 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 240 3,980 4,220 380 4,040 4,420 
			 East Midlands 130 2,620 2,750 130 2,640 2,770 
			 West Midlands 790 3,750 4,540 770 4,050 4,820 
			 East of England 440 3,160 3,600 550 3,370 3,920 
			 London 2,220 5,130 7,350 2,890 4,970 7,860 
			 Inner London 1,070 2,490 3,560 1,290 2,280 3,570 
			 Outer London 1,140 2,640 3,790 1,600 2,680 4,280 
			 South East 540 4,390 4,920 690 4,470 5,160 
			 South West 270 3,290 3,560 280 3,250 3,540 
		
	
	
		Numbers
		
			  Year ending 31 March 
			  2004 
			  Arranged through agency(71) Arranged through LA(71) Total(71) 
		
		
			 England 7,300 34,300 41,600 
			 North East 240 2,070 2,310 
			 North West 690 5,840 6,530 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber 430 4,020 4,450 
			 East Midlands 270 2,460 2,730 
			 West Midlands 790 3,970 4,750 
			 East of England 640 3,470 4,110 
			 London 3,080 4,970 8,060 
			 Inner London 1,360 2,290 3,660 
			 Outer London 1,720 2,680 4,400 
			 South East 800 4,360 5,160 
			 South West 380 3,140 3,520 
		
	
	(67) Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short term placements.
	(68) Regional figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. National figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
	(69) Figures are derived from the SSDA903 one-third sample survey.
	(70) Figures are taken from the CLA100 return.
	(71) Figures are taken from the SSDA903 return, which in 2003–04 covered all children looked after.

Further Education

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the proportion of black and ethnic minority students in (a) the London borough of Southwark, (b) Greater London and (c) England is in (i) sixth form colleges and (ii) further education colleges.

Bill Rammell: The information requested was contained in a letter from the Chief Executive of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) to the hon. Gentleman dated 25 April 2005, and is reproduced as follows.
	
		Proportion of black and ethnic minority learners LSC-funded learners in further education and sixth form colleges, 2003/04 Percentage
		
			  Sixth form colleges Further education colleges Overall 
		
		
			 Southwark n/a 69.6 69.6 
			 London 66.5 53.2 54.0 
			 England 18.1 15.7 15.8 
		
	
	n/a = not applicable.
	Notes:
	1. Figures for further education colleges include tertiary colleges, but exclude specialist colleges.
	2. Figures exclude students whose ethnicity was not known/not provided (around 6 per cent. nationally).

Literacy/Numeracy

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria are used to assess the functional literacy and numeracy of school leavers.

Jacqui Smith: The national curriculum sets out a clear, full and statutory entitlement to learning for all pupils up to the age of 16. It determines the content of what will be taught and sets attainment targets for learning. The programmes of study set out what pupils should be taught in each subject at each key stage, and attainment targets set out the knowledge, skills and understanding which pupils of different abilities and maturities are expected to have by the end of each key stage. Functional literacy and numeracy skills are embedded in the English and mathematics programmes of study.
	At key stage 4 (ages 14–16) GCSE qualifications are the principle means of assessing attainment, including functional literacy and numeracy. The changes to the assessment of functional skills in English and maths GCSE, announced in the White Paper "14–19 Education and Skills", will ensure that no one can get a grade C or better in English and maths without mastering the functional elements.

Literacy/Numeracy

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the differences in (a) assessment, (b) teaching and (c) content between the proposed tests of functional numeracy and literacy for school leavers and GCSEs in English and mathematics.

Jacqui Smith: The White Paper "14–19 Education and Skills" announced that GCSEs in English and maths would be revised to ensure that students cannot get a grade C or better without passing a functional skills unit. We are working closely with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and other stakeholders to develop the content, assessment and teaching of the functional skills units and how they will fit within English and maths GCSE. This work will build on the best aspects of the Key Stage 4 National Curriculum, Skills for Life and the current range of English and maths-related qualifications.
	It is too early to say what the differences will be from the current GCSEs in English and maths but we will ensure that a grade C or better at GCSE is a guarantee that young people have the functional skills they need for life, learning and work.

Looked-after Children

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of looked-after children aged under two years in each London borough experienced three or more changes of accommodation in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: The figures requested are shown in the following table.
	
		Children looked after at 31 March aged under 2 with three or more placements in the year ending 31 March, 2000 to 2004(72)(73)—England Numbers and percentages
		
			  Number of children looked after at 31 March aged under 2 Number at 31 March aged under 2 with three or more placements in the year 
			  2000(74) 2001(74) 2002(74) 2003(74) 2004(75) 2000(74) 2001(74) 2002(74) 2003(74) 2004(75) 
		
		
			 England 4,700 4,700 5,000 5,000 5,200 1,200 790 810 720 640 
			
			 London 820 720 820 900 920 160 90 110 150 120 
			
			 Inner London 440 400 420 390 440 70 50 60 60 50 
			 Camden 30 20 30 35 30 0 0 0 0 — 
			 City of London 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Greenwich 55 45 50 30 50 15 5 10 15 — 
			 Hackney 25 40 40 30 45 10 10 — 10 — 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 50 30 30 35 30 10 — 10 — 5 
			 Islington 40 35 40 35 35 10 — — — — 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 20 30 10 5 15 0 0 0 0 — 
			 Lambeth 50 40 40 35 50 5 5 — 0 10 
			 Lewisham 40 20 10 25 45 10 — — 0 — 
			 Southwark 65 65 55 35 45 5 15 5 5 5 
			 Tower Hamlets 15 30 50 45 45 — 0 10 — — 
			 Wandsworth 15 25 30 45 35 — 5 5 10 0 
			 Westminster 30 20 30 45 25 5 — — 10 — 
			
			 Outer London 380 320 400 510 470 90 40 50 90 70 
			 Barking and Dagenham 15 5 10 25 20 0 0 — 5 — 
			 Barnet 25 30 35 30 25 5 — — 10 — 
			 Bexley 5 — 5 10 10 0 0 — 0 0 
			 Brent 30 15 30 45 30 10 — — 5 5 
			 Bromley 10 15 20 35 30 — 0 — 10 — 
			 Croydon 40 30 35 45 35 10 0 — 0 — 
			 Ealing 35 35 50 40 25 15 5 10 10 — 
			 Enfield 10 20 10 35 25 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Haringey 40 30 10 20 40 10 5 0 5 5 
			 Harrow 15 5 5 15 15 5 — 0 — — 
			 Havering — 5 15 10 10 0 0 0 0 — 
			 Hillingdon 20 20 15 25 30 — 0 0 — — 
			 Hounslow 15 25 25 25 35 — 0 0 10 5 
			 Kingston upon Thames 10 10 10 5 10 0 — — 0 — 
			 Merton 10 — 20 20 15 0 0 0 0 — 
			 Newham 55 35 55 60 50 10 10 5 15 10 
			 Redbridge 5 10 5 5 10 — 0 — 0 — 
			 Richmond upon Thames 15 5 — 0 5 — 0 0 0 0 
			 Sutton — — 10 5 10 0 0 0 — 0 
			 Waltham Forest 10 15 35 50 35 0 — 5 15 10 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage at 31 March aged under 2 with three or more placements in the year 
			  2000(74) 2001(74) 2002(74) 2003(74) 2004(75) 
		
		
			 England 25 17 16 14 12 
			   
			 London 19 13 13 16 13 
			   
			 Inner London 17 14 13 14 11 
			 Camden 0 0 0 0 — 
			 City of London 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Greenwich 24 15 20 50 — 
			 Hackney 38 29 — 30 — 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 19 — 27 — 19 
			 Islington 29 — — — — 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 0 0 0 0 — 
			 Lambeth 11 14 — 0 18 
			 Lewisham 19 — — 0 — 
			 Southwark 8 19 12 17 16 
			 Tower Hamlets — 0 18 — — 
			 Wandsworth — 29 25 23 0 
			 Westminster 20 — — 23 — 
			   
			 Outer London 23 12 13 18 15 
			 Barking and Dagenham 0 0 — 22 — 
			 Barnet 25 — — 27 — 
			 Bexley 0 0 — 0 0 
			 Brent 40 — — 14 22 
			 Bromley — 0 — 27 — 
			 Croydon 25 0 — 0 — 
			 Ealing 45 18 24 21 — 
			 Enfield 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Haringey 27 22 0 29 18 
			 Harrow 40 — 0 — — 
			 Havering 0 0 0 0 — 
			 Hillingdon — 0 0 — — 
			 Hounslow — 0 0 38 20 
			 Kingston upon Thames 0 — — 0 — 
			 Merton 0 0 0 0 — 
			 Newham 18 25 12 21 17 
			 Redbridge — 0 — 0 — 
			 Richmond upon Thames — 0 0 0 0 
			 Sutton 0 0 0 — 0 
			 Waltham Forest 0 — 18 29 26 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures exclude children looked after under an agreed series of short-term placements.
	2. National figures over 1,000 have been rounded to the nearest 100. National figures under 1,000 and all regional figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. Figures between 1 and 5 have been suppressed and replaced by a hyphen (-). All other figures have been rounded to the nearest 5.
	3. Figures have been derived from the SSDA903 one-third sample survey.
	4. Figures have been taken from the SSDA903 return, which in 2004–04 covered all children looked after.

Mathematics

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of mathematics teachers teaching in secondary schools have degrees in mathematics.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested has been published in table 24 of the Statistics of Education, School Workforce in England Volume, 2004 edition, a copy of which has been placed in the House of Commons Library. Alternatively it may be accessed at the following URL: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DBA/OL/v000443/index.shtml
	Table 25 of the same publication provides the proportion of subject periods taught by level of qualification.

Mathematics

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students entered as candidates for mathematics (a) at GCSE or O-level and (b) A-level in each of the last 30 years.

Jacqui Smith: The following table shows the information readily available on the number of entries for mathematics at O-level or GCSE and A-level for each year between 1975 and 2004.
	
		O-level entries, GCSE candidates and A-level entries for mathematics in all schools and further education sector colleges, 1975–2004
		
			  O-level entries(72) A-level entries 
		
		
			 1975 309,901 69,759 
			 1976 325,727 73,682 
			 1977 352,727 70,606 
			 1978 357,418 73,281 
			 1979 381,424 79,412 
			 1980 395,254 80,881 
			 1981 413,822 87,446 
			 1982 433,164 91,550 
			 1983 440,917 92,858 
			 1984 444,639 90,688 
			 1985 452,778 87,682 
			 1986 — — 
			 1987 — — 
			 1988 — — 
		
	
	
		
			  GCSE candidates A-level entries 
		
		
			 1989 528,580 — 
			 1990 490,260 — 
			 1991 471,410 — 
			 1992 460,391 66,395 
			 1993 452,773 62,616 
			 1994 479,084 60,607 
			 1995 522,290 58,796 
			 1996 537,759 62,181 
			 1997 533,992 64,209 
			 1998 526,882 64,435 
			 1999 536,779 63,584 
			 2000 539,934 60,808 
			 2001 563,852 61,305 
			 2002 568,851 50,421 
			 2003 585,017 51,426 
			 2004 605,980 53,530 
		
	
	Notes:
	A-levels:
	1. Figures from 1974/75 to 1976/77 are for England and Wales, summer examinations.
	2. Figures from 1977/78 to 1984/85 are for England, summer examinations.
	3. Figures from 1985/86 to 1990/91 are unavailable as these data were not supplied by the awarding bodies to the Department.
	4. Figures from 1990/91 onwards relate to schools and colleges in England.
	5. 2004 figures are revised. All other figures are finalised.
	GCSEs:
	1. Figures from 1974/75 to 1987/88 are taken from the School Leavers Survey, and include school leavers of any age from all schools except special schools.
	2. Figures from 1985/86 to 1987/88 are combined for O-level and CSE and are not therefore comparable.
	3. Figures from 1988/89 to 1990/91 are taken from the School Examinations Survey, and are based on 15-year-old pupils in all schools except special schools.
	4. Figures from 1991/92 to 2003/04 are taken from the database on School Achievement and Attainment Tables, and are based on 15-year-old pupils in all schools including special schools.
	5. Figures from 1974/75 to 1984/85 are for O-level entries. Figures from 1988/89 to 2003/04 are for GCSE candidates.
	6. 2004 figures are revised. All other figures are finalised.

Missing Children

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which local authorities have (a) established protocols for joint working across all agencies for children who go missing, (b) established a senior manager with responsibility to oversee these protocols and their implementation and (c) produced an annual strategic monitoring report on children who go missing from home or care, as set out in her Department's report Children who go Missing: Research, Policy and Practice.

Maria Eagle: The Department of Health published 'Children Missing from Care and Home—a guide to good practice' with its related Circular LAC (2002)17 in November 2002. These were issued under Section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970, which means that local authorities are obliged to follow their requirements, unless there are exceptional circumstances. The good practice guide requires that protocols for the management of 'missing from care' incidents are drawn up between the local authority and the police, that a senior manager is appointed to monitor these protocols and that there should be regular reports to council members with responsibility for "corporate parenting" on patterns of children going missing from care. The Guidance also suggests a similar model of protocols and a named manager for children missing from home.
	As part of the arrangements for performance management of local authorities, all local authorities in England were required to complete a Delivery and Improvement Statement (DIS) each spring, giving a self-assessment of their progress. From April 2004, the information provided by the DIS was returned to the Commission for Social Care Inspection and it provided part of the evidence base used to evaluate the performance of each local authority in delivering their services for vulnerable adults and children. In spring 2004, the DIS included questions about LA compliance with the Children Missing from Care and Home Guidance. The data on local authorities response to these questions indicated that 96 per cent. of local authorities had appointed a senior manager to monitor 'missing from care' incidents and that 88 per cent. of local authorities had protocols in place with the police for managing missing from care incidents.
	Data is not collected centrally on which local authorities have complied with the Children Missing from Care and Home Guidance, nor on local authorities which have produced annual strategic monitoring reports on children who go missing from home or care.

New Schools

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 15 June 2005, Official Report, column 492W, on building schools for the future (BSF), how much money has been set aside within the BSF budget for special schools.

Jacqui Smith: Funding is not set aside specifically for special schools within the budget for building schools for the future. We provide funding based on local authorities' statements of priority, which include any plans for special schools. Based on local authorities' latest statements of priority in waves one to three, the following allocations have been made for special schools:
	
		
			   £ million 
			  Wave Allocation made for special schools With additional ICT funding 
		
		
			 1 97.7 3.2 
			 2 48 1.1 
			 3 62 1.6 
		
	
	These allocations include initial provision for construction inflation, but may be subject to change as local authorities' business cases for BSF are further refined and if local authorities make changes to the schools included within individual BSF waves. In addition, the allocations are before any potential uplift due to the introduction of the revised Building Bulletin 77: Designing for Pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in Schools, which is currently subject to consultation.

Non-EU Students

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what the estimated income was from fees paid by (a) undergraduate and (b) postgraduate non-EU students in higher education institutions in England in each year between 1999 and 2004;
	(2)  what the total amount of fees raised from (a) undergraduate students and (b) postgraduate students attending higher education institutions in England was in each year between 1999 and 2004.

Bill Rammell: The available information gives data on the income received in respect of fees for students on courses for which fees are charged.
	Figures for non-EU overseas students are not broken down into postgraduate and undergraduate.
	The available figures are given in the table.
	
		Income to English HE institutions in respect of fees for students on courses for which fees are charged, academic year 1999/2000 to 2003/04 £ million
		
			  Home and EU domiciles Non-EU 
			 Academic year Postgraduate Undergraduate overseas domiciles 
		
		
			 1999/2000 420.1 1,187.5 583.1 
			 2000/01 438.0 1,248.1 649.0 
			 2001/02 487.5 1,310.2 763.4 
			 2002/03 530.7 1,415.4 950.5 
			 2003/04 546.5 1,506.4 1,121.5 
		
	
	Source:
	Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Finance record
	Data in the answer cover all fee income, including short courses, self-financing full-cost courses funded by private/non-private sources in respect of all and only those students on courses for which fees are charged. This includes expenditure by Student Loans Company (SLC), Local Education Authorities (LEAs), Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS), the Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland (DEL), the Department of Health (DH) (including National Health Service (NHS), Workforce Development Confederations (England) and NHS Trusts), Regional Offices of the NHS Executive (RONE), the Scottish Home and Health Department (SHHD), and other sources not covered including individual students.

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list reviews of examination standards undertaken by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority since its establishment.

Jacqui Smith: The list of QCA reviews of examination standards is as follows. Access to the reports is available on QCA's website at www.qca.org.uk.
	QCA has carried out investigations of standards over time in the following areas. All reports are published on the QCA website.
	
		
			 A level  
		
		
			 Art and Design 1978–98 
			 Biology 1977–97 
			 Chemistry 1995–98 
			 Classical Subjects 1977–97 
			 Design and Technology 1979–99 
			 English Literature 1996–99 
			 French 1977–97 
			 General Studies 1980–2000 
			 Geography 1980–2000 
			 German 1976–96 
			 German 1996–2001 
			 Government and Politics 1976–96 
			 History 1976–96 
			 Mathematics 1995–98 
			 Physics 1976–96 
			 Physics 1996–2001 
			 Psychology 1977–97 
			   
			 GCSE  
			 Art and Design 1979–99 
			 Biology 1978–98 
			 Chemistry 1978–98 
			 Design and Technology 1978–98 
			 English 1995–98 
			 English 1998–2002 
			 English Literature 1980–2000 
			 French 1976–96 
			 French 1996–2001 
			 Geography 1976–96 
			 Geography 1996–2001 
			 German 1977–97 
			 History 1977–97 
			 Mathematics 1995–99 
			 Physical Education 1976–96 
			 Physics 1977–97 
			 Physics 1997–2002 
			 Religious Studies 1976–96 
			 Science Double Award 1995–2000 
		
	
	In addition, there have been reports on GCSE and A level biology, 1997/98 to 2003 and GCSE and A level chemistry, 1997/98 to 2003 and one looking across GCSE and A level business studies and economics, 1978–2003. Work is currently under way on A level computing/ICT, A level French, A level sociology and GCSE and A level mathematics, all looking at 2004 examinations in comparison with predecessors.

School Meals

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will require schools to comply with the nutrient-based standards for school meals published by the Caroline Walker Trust on 23 June.

Jacqui Smith: The Department has commissioned the School Meals Review Panel to review the nutritional standards for school meals. The new, draft guidance will be available from September 2005, with the new standards mandatory from September 2006.

School Premises

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many temporary buildings there were on school premises in each London borough in (a) 1997, (b) 2001 and (c) 2005, broken down by (i) primary, (ii) secondary and (iii) special schools.

Jacqui Smith: The following table shows numbers of temporary buildings on primary, secondary and special school premises for each London borough. The figures are derived from data supplied to the Department by authorities in 2001 and 2003. No data were collected in 1997. New data have been requested at the end of this year. Not all temporary buildings are used for teaching. They may accommodate one or more classrooms.
	Central government capital support for investment in schools has increased from under £700 million in 1996–97 to £5.5 billion this year and will rise further to over £6.3 billion by 2007–08. Progress is being made year-by-year in improving the quality of the school building stock. The bulk of schools capital is now allocated by formula to authorities and schools so that they can address their local priorities, including the replacement of decayed temporary accommodation, on which we have set a high priority.
	Modern, high quality mobile or demountable classrooms provide a good environment for teaching and learning where there is short term need. They might, for instance, be needed to cope with a short term increase in pupil numbers, or where extensive remodelling or rebuilding of permanent accommodation means providing temporary accommodation on the school site, rather than transporting children elsewhere.
	
		Numbers of temporary buildings at primary, secondary and special schools in London boroughs
		
			  Primary Secondary Special 
		
		
			 2001 data — — — 
			 Barking and Dagenham 5 — — 
			 Barnet — — — 
			 Bexley 123 80 3 
			 Brent 65 15 2 
			 Bromley 19 6 3 
			 Camden — — — 
			 City of London — — — 
			 Croydon 106 22 3 
			 Ealing 12 5 3 
			 Enfield — — — 
			 Greenwich — — — 
			 Hackney 20 9 3 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham — — — 
			 Haringey 2 5 — 
			 Harrow 121 19 3 
			 Havering — — — 
			 Hillingdon 56 41 6 
			 Hounslow 25 15 4 
			 Islington 2 — — 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 3 — — 
			 Kingston upon Thames — — — 
			 Lambeth 32 8 4 
			 Lewisham 28 3 — 
			 Merton — — — 
			 Newham 68 11 4 
			 Redbridge — — — 
			 Richmond upon Thames — — — 
			 Southwark 9 2 — 
			 Sutton 57 44 — 
			 Tower Hamlets 9 5 2 
			 Waltham Forest — — — 
			 Wandsworth 10 3 9 
			 Westminster 2 2 — 
			 
			 2003 data
			 Barking and Dagenham 7 3 1 
			 Barnet — — — 
			 Bexley 116 54 3 
			 Brent 52 16 — 
			 Bromley 19 6 3 
			 Camden — — — 
			 City of London — — — 
			 Croydon 88 20 3 
			 Ealing 84 22 11 
			 Enfield — — — 
			 Greenwich — — — 
			 Hackney 8 — 2 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham — — — 
			 Haringey 16 12 2 
			 Harrow 119 20 6 
			 Havering — 2 — 
			 Hillingdon 51 33 6 
			 Hounslow 35 14 4 
			 Islington 8 2 1 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 3 — — 
			 Kingston upon Thames — — — 
			 Lambeth 30 4 6 
			 Lewisham 26 5 1 
			 Merton 4 — — 
			 Newham 45 9 2 
			 Redbridge — — — 
			 Richmond upon Thames 10 5 1 
			 Southwark 10 1 — 
			 Sutton 61 42 — 
			 Tower Hamlets 5 6 1 
			 Waltham Forest 12 5 2 
			 Wandsworth 10 3 9 
			 Westminster — — — 
		
	
	Note:
	Where no figures are shown, either no data have been supplied by authorities, or there are clearly significant data anomalies.

Special Schools

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many proposals to close moderate learning disability special schools in the last eight years went to adjudication; and how many schools were subsequently closed.

Maria Eagle: Schools adjudicators are independent of the Department for Education and Skills. Details of the decisions they have made are published each year by the Office of the Schools Adjudicator in their annual report. Copies, for each year since the office was created in April 1999, have been placed in the House Library.
	The Office of the Schools Adjudicators (OSA) was established on 1 April 1999. To date adjudicators have considered 17 proposals to reorganise provision in 31 special schools. Of these, 11 included proposals to close special schools catering for children with moderate learning difficulties (MLD). Adjudicators approved nine of these proposals, amounting to the closure of 13 schools with provision for children with MLD.

Teachers

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) primary and junior school teachers, (b) secondary school teachers and (c) classroom assistants there were in (i) West Sussex, (ii) Kent, (iii) Durham and (iv) the East Riding of Yorkshire in each of the last eight years.

Jacqui Smith: The following table provides the information requested. Teacher numbers are not yet available for 2005 at LEA level.
	
		Full-time equivalent regular teachers (excluding occasionals) and teaching assistants: January 1998 to 2005
		
			  1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 Nursery/Primary 
			 West Sussex 2,760 2,830 2,800 2,760 2,810 2,870 2,760 n/a 
			 Kent 5,880 4,860 4,970 4,960 5,050 5,210 5,440 n/a 
			 Durham 2,060 2,110 2,090 2,150 2,160 2,150 2,090 n/a 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 1,070 1,090 1,130 1,150 1,150 1,200 1,170 n/a 
			 Secondary 
			 West Sussex 2,510 2,540 2,540 2,630 2,720 2,800 2,810 n/a 
			 Kent 6,650 5,510 5,810 5,850 5,750 5,730 6,270 n/a 
			 Durham 1,920 1,910 1,920 1,890 1,930 1,970 2,010 n/a 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 1,250 1,250 1,300 1,310 1,330 1,370 1,390 n/a 
			 Teaching Assistants
			 West Sussex 500 500 560 600 1,030 1,090 1,120 1,260 
			 Kent 2,040 1,780 1,980 2,210 3,090 3,480 3,730 4,180 
			 Durham 440 460 480 540 520 650 850 890 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 300 330 380 460 430 530 660 780 
		
	
	n/a = not available
	Source:
	Annual survey of teacher numbers and vacancies (Form 618g) for teacher numbers. Annual School Census for teaching assistants.

Training and Enterprise Council

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which of the former training and enterprise council pension schemes have not yet been transferred to the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme; what type of pension scheme they are; and how many members each has.

Phil Hope: Of the 72 TEC/CCTEs 33 operated final salary schemes which required action to be taken to enable them to transfer their accrued benefits into the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS).
	Of these 33, 24 participated in the "industry-wide" TEC National Pension Scheme, which in March 2001 had nearly 1,000 active members of whom 742 have now transferred their accrued pension rights into the PCSPS as active members. In addition, there have been 926 transfers into the PCSPS in the form of deferred pension rights. The remainder chose not to transfer their accrued benefits into PCSPS.
	The following table sets out the information on the remaining nine TECs with final salary-type pension arrangements. Information on the total membership of each TEC pension scheme in March 2001 was not routinely requested, as it was not strictly required in order to arrange a bulk transfer.
	
		
			 TEC/CCTE Number of active members for whom accrued TEC pension rights have been transferred to PCSPS(74) Number of deferred pensioners for whom accrued TEC pension rights have been transferred to PCSPS(74) 
		
		
			 North Yorkshire(75) 46 nil 
			 Tyneside and Sunderland(75) 130 nil 
			 Hertfordshire(75) 7 nil 
			 Northumberland 35 48 
			 Suffolk 47 25 
			 Greater Nottinghamshire 42 21 
			 Staffordshire 71 35 
			 HOETEC(76) nil nil 
			 Teesside 90 32 
		
	
	(74) In the time available, it has not been possible to verify that the above numbers include all late data amendments, but there were relatively few of these.
	(75) These TECs each participated in one of the local government schemes; as these schemes would not be wound-up, no transfer option was required for deferred pensioners.
	(76) Discussions with the independent trustee are ongoing with the objective of securing a bulk transfer to PCSPS. We understand that there are approximately 100 to 120 members.

University Admissions

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the effects of making module grades of A level students available to universities as an interim measure before moving to a system of post-qualification application to university.

Jacqui Smith: We welcome and support UCAS's initiative (as set out in the 14–19 Education and Skills White Paper) to make unit grades available to higher education institutions as a swift and practicable interim measure for universities to discern differentiation at the top end. We do so in the belief that it will provide universities with robust and objective information for choosing between candidates. The precise way in which the availability of that information will affect universities' offer making is a matter for the individual institutions and UCAS to determine. Although the results of the consultation process have not been made public, the UCAS/Joint Council for Qualifications Working Group is now investigating the possible effects. The Working Group will meet again on 8 July to consider next steps.

University Graduates

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many university students graduated in each discipline in each of the last five years.

Bill Rammell: Information on qualifications obtained by students on HE courses is published annually by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Provisional figures for the 2003/04 academic year were published on 11 January 2005.
	
		First degree qualifications obtained by students on HE courses at HEIs in the UK by subject area, 1999/2000 to 2003/04 (thousand)(77)
		
			  First degree 
			 HESACODE subject area 1999–2000 2000–01(78) 2001–02(78) 
		
		
			 Medicine and dentistry 5.8 6.0 6.0 
			 Subjects allied to medicine 17.6 17.8 19.5 
			 Biological sciences 17.4 18.4 18.6 
			 Veterinary science 0.5 0.6 0.6 
			 Agriculture and related subjects 2.3 2.3 2.3 
			 Physical sciences 13.1 13.2 13.0 
			 Mathematical sciences 4.3 4.1 4.2 
			 Computer science 10.4 11.2 12.5 
			 Engineering and technology 22.0 20.6 19.8 
			 Architecture, building and planning 7.2 6.6 6.2 
			 Total science 100.6 100.7 102.7 
			 Social, economic and political studies 21.6 22.7 22.0 
			 Law 10.0 10.2 10.0 
			 Business and administrative studies 30.9 31.9 32.6 
			 Librarianship and information science 3.8 4.6 4.5 
			 Languages 16.0 16.6 16.6 
			 Humanities 10.4 10.4 9.9 
			 Creative arts and design 20.3 21.3 22.2 
			 Education 13.5 11.9 11.8 
			 Combined 36.6 34.9 33.1 
			 All subjects 263.7 265.3 265.3 
		
	
	
		
			  First degree 
			 JACS subject area4 2002–03(78) 2003–04(78)(79) 
		
		
			 Medicine and dentistry 6.1 6.8 
			 Subjects allied to medicine 22.3 23.1 
			 Biological sciences 23.2 25.4 
			 Veterinary science 0.6 0.7 
			 Agriculture and related subjects 2.1 2.3 
			 Physical sciences 12.1 11.7 
			 Mathematical sciences 5.0 5.3 
			 Computer science 17.6 19.3 
			 Engineering and technology 18.8 19.1 
			 Architecture, building and planning 6.3 6.4 
			 Total science 114.0 120.1 
			
			 Social studies 24.5 25.9 
			 Law 11.4 12.2 
			 Business and administrative studies 38.7 40.1 
			 Mass communications and documentation 7.2 7.7 
			 Languages 19.7 19.5 
			 Historical and Philosophical studies 13.1 14.6 
			 Creative arts and design 26.1 27.8 
			 Education 9.3 9.2 
			 Combined 9.3 5.0 
			 All subjects 273.4 282.1 
		
	
	(77) The figures presented above include qualifications submitted to HESA by a reporting deadline; however this deadline has changed over the years. Details of reporting schedules are given in earlier Statistical First Releases. These changes are not thought to have affected the number of qualifications reported.
	(78) For 2000/01 and subsequent data collections, the figures exclude qualifications obtained by incoming visiting and exchange students. To enable comparison, there were approximately 500 first degree qualifications obtained by incoming visiting and exchange students not included in the figures presented for 2000/01. Also from 2000/01 dormant students are included in the above figures.
	(79) The 2003/04 figures above are provisional.
	(80) In 2002/03 the Joint Academic Subject Classification (JACS) replaced HESACODE as the basis for grouping by subject area. Although JACS and HESACODE look similar and are closely related, they are not by any means identical, and so are not directly comparable. It has accordingly been necessary for 2002/03 onwards to construct subject area definitions afresh in terms of JACS.
	The shift of numbers shown between 2001/02 and 2002/03 is largely attributable to the introduction of a new procedure of apportionment for dealing with students, notably those on combined/split programmes, rather than to the changes in the way subjects are classified. It can also be seen that improved reporting practice has led to further reduction in the numbers on combined programmes shown in 2003/04.
	Due to differing coverage, changes between 2002/03 and 2001/02 are not directly comparable.

Cyprus

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will review his Department's advice to UK nationals considering purchasing property in occupied Cyprus; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) keeps its travel advice under regular review. The travel advice for Cyprus, including the section on property, was most recently amended on 16 June, and is available on the FCO website: www.fco.gov.uk.
	We strongly encourage potential purchasers of property in Cyprus to take independent, qualified legal advice. The travel advice also explains that there are a number of potential practical, financial and legal implications, particularly for those considering buying property in the north—these relate to the non-recognition of the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus", the possibility of a future political settlement in Cyprus, and claims to ownership from people displaced in 1974. The advice also warns that there is a risk that purchasers would face legal proceedings in the courts of the Republic of Cyprus, as well as attempts to enforce judgments from the courts of the Republic of Cyprus elsewhere in the EU, including the UK.

Departmental Expenditure

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of man hours required to fill in the Collinson Grant questionnaires on process activity in his Department was; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: The amount of time spent completing the Collinson Grant respondent spreadsheet was not recorded so it is not possible to give a firm figure. The Collinson Grant project team estimated the time required to complete the spreadsheet would be approximately three hours based on the experience of a short pilot. There were 539 respondents.

Diversity Advisory Groups

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the role is of his Department's diversity advisory groups; what activities the groups undertake; what the cost was of each group in the last year for which figures are available; what publications each has produced; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has three diversity advisory groups administered by Human Resources Directorate: the Disability Action Group, the Ethnic Diversity Advisory Group and the Gender Advisory Group. The role of these groups is to advise Human Resources Directorate and the FCO Board on disability, ethnic and gender issues respectively. Each of these groups meets quarterly and is chaired by a member of the FCO Board. There are no costs for running these groups.
	The Disability Action Group aims to raise awareness in the FCO of disability issues, to suggest ways of increasing numbers of disabled staff and of meeting their needs, to provide support for disabled staff, to share best practice, to develop the FCO's action plan on disability and, through the Board Disability Champion, to contribute to the FCO Ministerial Group on diversity.
	The Ethnic Diversity Advisory Group aims to enable the FCO to benefit fully from the ethnic diversity of its staff, suggest and monitor activities to increase the number of staff from minority ethnic groups, review and develop the FCO's action plan on race and through the Board Champion on race to contribute to the FCO Ministerial Group on diversity.
	The Gender Advisory Group aims to suggest ways to improve representation of women, review and develop the FCO's action plan on gender and through the Board Champion on gender to contribute to the FCO Ministerial Group on diversity. The FCO Gender Advisory Group produced a booklet, "Inclusive Government: mainstreaming gender into foreign policy", in June 2004.
	The FCO Lesbian and Gay Group (FLAGG) and the Ethnic Minority Action Group (EMAG) are run by staff, rather than HR. EMAG is a network of staff with an interest in minority ethnic issues, who wish to make an impact on issues relating to equal opportunity, diversity and inclusion. The group meets monthly. FLAGG is a staff support group for all gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered staff

Nuclear Weapons (Africa)

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the (a) possession and (b) development of nuclear weapons technologies in African states; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: My assessment is that no African country possesses nuclear weapons or is currently developing them.
	However, as the right hon. Gentleman will be aware, the former South African President, FW De Klerk, announced in March 1993 that South Africa had decided in 1974 to develop a limited nuclear deterrent capability, and that six of seven projected nuclear fission devices had been completed by the time it decided in 1990 to dismantle and destroy all the nuclear devices and accede to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). South Africa duly acceded to the NPT in July 1991, and its consequent comprehensive safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) came into force in September 1991. The IAEA subsequently conducted a number of inspections to verify the completeness and correctness of South Africa's initial report of its inventory of nuclear material. In 1993 South Africa also asked the IAEA to conduct visits to confirm the abandoned status of its former nuclear weapon programme. As a result of these activities, the IAEA concluded that it had found nothing inconsistent with the South African account of the programme.
	The right hon. Gentleman will also be aware that on 19 December 2003 Libya announced that it had shown US and UK experts "the materials, equipments and programmes which lead to the production of internationally proscribed weapons", including centrifuge machines, and that it had decided "to eliminate these materials, equipments and programmes". Libya has since acknowledged to the IAEA that it received documentation related to nuclear weapon design and fabrication from a foreign source as well as some pre-assembled centrifuge machines and many components for other such machines. The United Kingdom has strongly welcomed Libya's renunciation of these activities, as well as its conclusion of an Additional Protocol in March 2004 to its existing Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA, and strongly supports its continued co-operation with the IAEA.
	The United Kingdom is a strong supporter of the Treaty of Pelindaba, which seeks to establish a nuclear weapon free zone in Africa. We have ratified the relevant Protocols to the Treaty, and continue to call on enough states to ratify the Treaty for it to enter into force.

Special Advisers

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list (a) the special advisers in his Department, (b) their specific areas of expertise and (c) the total cost of employing them in the latest year for which figures are available.

Jack Straw: As at 29 June 2005, the special advisers in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and their areas of expertise are:
	Dr. Michael Williams—UN, Human rights, Asia, Africa and the Balkans
	Mr. Mark Davies—Communications and the EU
	All special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the "Model Contract for Special Advisers".
	On costs, I refer the hon. Member to the reply my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister gave to my hon. Friend the Member for St. Helens, North (Mr. Watts) on 22 July 2004, Official Report, columns 466–70W.

Zimbabwe

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government are making to the Zimbabwean Government regarding the recent ZANU-PF slum clearances.

Ian Pearson: We have made our condemnation of recent events in Zimbabwe clear. On 13 June my noble Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Minister for Africa (Lord Triesman of Tottenham) summoned the Zimbabwean chargé d'affaires to the FCO to express the Government's outrage at the recent crackdown which has rendered hundreds of thousands homeless. Our ambassador in Harare has protested directly to both the Zimbabwean Vice President and the Minister of National Security. We have also raised our concerns with other African Governments and urged them to make their own representations to the government of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Government will make representations for Operation Murabatsvina to be discussed at the African Union Summit in Libya.

Ian Pearson: The agenda for the African Union Summit is a matter for the African Union. But we have made clear our hope that African governments will address the situation in Zimbabwe. My noble Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Africa (Lord Triesman of Tottenham) and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn) will attend the summit on 4 and 5 July and will make our views clear.

Adult Education

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people have participated in adult education courses in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997.

Angela Smith: The term "adult education" primarily refers to provision in further education colleges for those aged 18 years and over, as well as those undertaking adult basic education through Essential Skills courses and Learndirect. Total numbers of enrolments are:
	
		
			 Academic year Total 
		
		
			 1997/98 117,060 
			 1998/99 115,022 
			 1999/2000 123,229 
			 2000/01 128,029 
			 2001/02 131,293 
			 2002/03 114,921 
			 2003/04 149,766

Care Homes

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) nursing homes and (b) residential homes in Northern Ireland charge top-up fees; and what the average top-up fees are in each case.

Shaun Woodward: For the cases under its care management, the Health and Personal Social Services (HPSS) contracts with independent sector care home providers to meet the full cost of assessed care needs. Additional payments, sometimes known as top ups, should only be on the basis of clearly defined added value. The HPSS has no right of access to information about payments that are not part of its contracts with independent providers.

EU Presidency

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what activities and meetings are planned to take place in Northern Ireland in connection with the UK presidency of the European Union.

Angela Smith: Northern Ireland will host, on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions, the Informal Meeting of EU Employment Ministers in Belfast on 7–9 July 2005.
	Other events to be held will include: a meeting in Belfast of EU environmental attachés on 24–27 July; a conference of EU paying agencies due to take place in Belfast on 13–14 October; a conference on the creative industries being staged in Belfast by a private organisation, "Creative Clusters" on 26 October; and Opportunity Europe (26 September to 4 October), a programme of events designed to highlight the multiple links between Northern Ireland and the rest of Europe.

Further Education Colleges

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many students there have been in colleges of further education in Northern Ireland in each year since 1997.

Angela Smith: Figures for total enrolments per academic year in Northern Ireland further education colleges are only available from 1998–99. The most up-to-date audited figures available are for academic year 2002–03. These figures are set out in the following table.
	
		Total enrolments in the NI FE sector by Mode of Attendance from 1998–99 to 2002–03
		
			  Mode of Attendance 
			 Academic year Full-time Part-time (including non-voc) Total 
		
		
			 1998–99 26,992 156,296 183,288 
			 1999–2000 27,245 165,962 193,207 
			 2000–01 27,918 175,241 203,159 
			 2001–02 27,459 169,430 196,889 
			 2002–03 27,524 170,437 197,961 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data is extracted from the Further Education Statistical Record.
	2. The merger of the Northern Ireland Hotel and Catering College and the University of Ulster in 2001 is responsible for an approximate total enrolment decline of 3,000 between 2001–02 and 2002–03.

Health and Safety Inspections

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) planned and (b) unannounced health and safety inspections were carried out in each health and safety district in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Angela Smith: The number of inspections carried out by each district council is provided in the following table, for the years for which they are available. A breakdown between (a) planned and (b) unannounced inspections is not available. 
	
		Number of inspections carried out by district councils
		
			  2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Antrim 155 122 110 
			 Ards 308 288 312 
			 Armagh 191 123 138 
			 Ballymena 427 425 394 
			 Ballymoney 58 48 61 
			 Banbridge 106 197 107 
			 Belfast 316 714 519 
			 Carrickfergus 62 35 70 
			 Castlereagh 135 166 168 
			 Coleraine 158 165 237 
			 Cookstown 49 47 26 
			 Craigavon 260 233 161 
			 Down 228 319 172 
			 Dungannon 83 24 40 
			 Fermanagh n/k 112 169 
			 Larne 48 83 91 
			 Limavady 108 133 94 
			 Lisburn 602 617 489 
			 Londonderry 328 310 514 
			 Magherafelt 50 91 60 
			 Moyle 32 24 34 
			 Newry 176 142 136 
			 Newtownabbey 265 127 147 
			 North Down 288 333 347 
			 Omagh 122 62 132 
			 Strabane 63 80 77 
			 Total 4,618 5,020 4,805

Human Rights Commission

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many applications were received for the post of Commissioner within the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, broken down by party political affiliation; how many applicants were short-listed, broken down by party political affiliation; and what the nationality was of each applicant.

David Hanson: 164 applications were received for the post of Commissioner.
	Applicants were not asked to confirm their nationality.
	Applicants were not asked to confirm their party political affiliation. As is standard in public appointments, applicants were asked on their application form to indicate whether they had undertaken any of the following activities during the past five years:
	Obtained office as a Local Councillor, MP, MEP, MLA etc.
	Stood as a candidate for one of the above offices.
	Spoken on behalf of a political party or candidate.
	Acted as a political agent.
	Held office, such as chair, treasurer or secretary of a local branch of a political party.
	Canvassed on behalf of a political party or helped at elections.
	Undertaken any other political activity which they considered relevant.
	Made a recordable donation to a political party.
	When a candidate indicated that they had undertaken one or more activity, they were asked to indicate the party for which the activity was undertaken. This is broken down as follows for all applicants:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Alliance Party 8 
			 Labour 8 
			 SDLP 6 
			 UUP 4 
			 NI Women's Coalition 3 
			 DUP 3 
			 Liberal Democrat 2 
			 Worker's Party 2 
			 Fianna Fail 1 
			 Green Party 1 
			 No activity indicated 126 
		
	
	87 applicants met the criteria required to be short-listed for interview. The political parties for which activities were undertaken by these applicants are broken down as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Labour 8 
			 Alliance Party 4 
			 SDLP 4 
			 NI Women's Coalition 3 
			 UUP 2 
			 DUP 2 
			 Worker's Party 1 
			 Green Party 1 
			 No activity indicated 62

NHS Dentistry

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of people are registered with an NHS dentist in each board area in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: Information requested is provided in the following table.
	
		Percentage of persons registered with an NHS dentist by HSS board, May 2005
		
			  HSS board Percentage of persons registered with an NHS dentist(84)(85) 
		
		
			 Eastern 52.0 
			 Northern 53.0 
			 Southern 55.0 
			 Western 44.0 
		
	
	(84) Figures are derived from dental registration data and the 2003 mid-year estimate of population (latest available from General Registrar Northern Ireland).
	(85) Figures are based on HSS board of residency of the patient.
	Source:
	Central Services Agency
	Registration with a dentist is entirely voluntary and in itself is not an accurate measurement of the numbers of people who receive dental treatment. However, the fact that someone is registered with a general dental practice and attends for check-ups means that they will benefit from oral health advice and problems can be picked up more quickly and before intervention is required.

Paramedic Services

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he plans to introduce NHS car/motorcycle paramedic services in Northern Ireland as an alternative to the use of the traditional ambulance; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service currently deploys six rapid response vehicles manned by single paramedics to provide treatment in life-threatening cases until a conventional ambulance arrives to transport the patient to hospital if necessary. There are no plans to introduce a motorcycle paramedic service in Northern Ireland.
	The Department is currently considering the Department of Health's strategic review of NHS ambulance services in England, "Taking Healthcare to the Patient—Transforming NHS Ambulance Services" published last week, which announces changes in the way ambulances deliver care in England, to determine to what extent its recommendations are relevant to Northern Ireland.

Rates Revenue

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total revenue from (a) the regional rates and (b) district rates in Northern Ireland was in each year since 2001.

Angela Smith: The following table shows the rate revenue generated from the regional rate and the district rate in Northern Ireland for each year since 2001.
	
		
			   £ 
			  Regional rate District rate 
		
		
			 2001–02 324,774,999 242,607,628 
			 2002–03 345,824,458 260,491,333 
			 2003–04 368,618,570 284,367,910 
			 2004–05 n/a n/a 
		
	
	n/a = Not available until October 2005

Visually Impaired People

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are registered as visually impaired in Northern Ireland; what services are available for people who are visually impaired; what steps he is taking to improve provision; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety holds records of those who are blind and partially sighted who have been in contact with Health and Social Services Trusts. Latest figures available for 2003–04 indicate that there are: 2,273 people who are blind, 3,122 people who are partially sighted giving a total of 5,395 people who are either blind or partially sighted.
	New certification and registration procedures introduced in April 2005 will ensure that those with serious visual impairment are fast tracked towards relevant social services support within their Health and Social Services Trust. In addition there are comprehensive peripatetic low vision outreach services across the whole province. Other specialist services are available for children and special needs patients. There is also a network of sensory support teams, including social services, which regularly meet to discuss needs and future service delivery.
	Northern Ireland is also participating in clinical trials for new drug therapies for Age Related Macular Degeneration. It is thought that Belfast is the only United Kingdom centre for one of these trials. Queens University in Belfast is one of three centres in the whole of the United Kingdom that provides analysis of eye angiograms through a central angiographic facility. Data from this facility is used to inform state-of-the-art diagnosis for macular degeneration.
	The Department's Social Services Inspectorate launched its report "Challenge and Change" about services for adults with a sensory loss. That report will help inform service development of sensory services in the medium to longer term in both the statutory and voluntary sector in Northern Ireland.

Adverse Drug Reactions (Older People)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her most recent estimate is of the number of (a) 50 to 64-year-olds, (b) 65 to 74-year-olds and (c) over 75-year-olds who (i) died and (ii) were injured in a year as a result of adverse drug reactions.

Jane Kennedy: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's pharmacovigilance database does not hold specific information on the number of people who were injured as a result of an adverse drug reaction (ADR).
	The table shows the total number and number of fatal of "suspected adverse" drug reaction (ADR) reports received via the yellow card scheme from 1 January to 31 December 2004 for each age group.
	
		Number of reports received via the yellow card scheme
		
			   Age (years)  Number of adverse drug reaction reports Number of fatal adverse drug reaction reports 
		
		
			 50–64 4,017 180 
			 65–74 2,727 143 
			 75+ 2,390 194 
		
	
	It is important to note that a report of an adverse drug reaction does not necessarily mean that it was caused by the drug. Many factors have to be taken into account in assessing causal relationships including temporal association, the possible contribution of concomitant medication and the underlying disease. It is particularly important to note that causality has not been established for fatal reports.

Antipsychotic Medication

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many prescriptions were issued in each of the last five years for (a) atypical, (b) traditional and (c) all antipsychotic medication in each (i) region and (ii) health authority for (A) 0 to 15 years, (B) 16 to 59 years and (C) 60 years and over age groups.

Jane Kennedy: pursuant to the reply, 15 June 2005, Official Report, c. 499–500W
	I regret that the table placed in the Library in my previous reply is incorrect. The total for the category aged 60 and over states 96,000 items were dispensed in 2003, and it should read 950,000.
	This incorrect figure was also given in the table in the reply to the hon. Member on 27 January 2005, Official Report, column 544W. The correct tables will be placed in the Library.

Cancer

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial resources are being made available in 2005–06 for (a) research into and (b) increasing public awareness of the causes of (i) lung cancer, (ii) prostate cancer, (iii) heart disease and (iv) cervical cancer; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The main agency through which the Government supports medical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council (MRC). The MRC is unable at this stage to predict 2005–06 spend by topic.
	Over 75 per cent. of the Department's total expenditure on health research is devolved to and managed by national health service organisations. Research active NHS organisations account for their use of the research and development allocations they receive from the Department in an annual report. These retrospective reports analyse expenditure by reference to some 16 national priority areas including cancer and coronary heart disease.
	The National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) publishes a strategic analysis that provides a detailed overview of the cancer research in the United Kingdom that is directly funded by the NCRIs 20 partner organisations. The latest analysis can be found on the NCRI's website at: www.ncri.org.uk/crd/index.cfm?NavSub=10. This shows the proportion of expenditure on research under way on 1 April 2004 devoted to a number of tumour types.
	Smoking and tobacco use are major causes of a number of cancers and of coronary heart disease and the Department has an ongoing campaign using national media, helplines and support materials that increases public awareness of this. Some £41 million is being allocated to the campaign in 2005–06.
	Cervical cancer is caused by an infection that is nearly always sexually transmitted. The Department will launch a £50 million advertising campaign later this year promoting condom use and highlighting the risks from sexually transmitted infections.

Counterfeit Medicines

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what actions the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is taking to tackle the distribution of counterfeit medicines through the supply chain; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps her Department takes (a) to advise patients about counterfeit medicines and (b) to educate patients to identify counterfeit medicines; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  what action her Department is taking to tackle the (a) production, (b) import and (c) purchase of counterfeit medicines; and if she will make a statement;
	(4)  what the estimated value of counterfeit medicines entering the UK supply chain was in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement;
	(5)  what discussions her Department has had with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs on counterfeit medicines; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The regulation of all medicines on the United Kingdom market is undertaken by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on behalf of Health Ministers. The MHRA is an executive agency of the Department. Its primary aim is to protect public health through the control of medicines on the UK market. This is achieved through a licensing and inspection system, which assures medicines conform to agreed standards of quality, safety and efficacy, and further ensures that licensed medicines are manufactured, stored and distributed to maintain these standards.
	In August 2004, two counterfeit products, purporting respectively to be Cialis, an erectile dysfunction treatment, and Reductil, an anti-obesity treatment, were discovered in the legitimate UK supply chain. This is the first time in 10 years that counterfeit products are known to have reached the legitimate UK supply chain.
	Over 600 million prescriptions are written annually in the UK. Therefore these two discoveries of counterfeit medicines in the small numbers that reached the legitimate UK supply chain, prior to recall, needs to be viewed in that context. However, the MHRA takes each and every such case very seriously and full investigation follows discovery.
	The number of boxes of counterfeit Cialis, including part-boxes, that were returned following the MHRA recall was 2,300. Each 20 milligrammes (mg) box of four Cialis tablets is valued at £23.40 1 . The number of boxes, including part-boxes, of counterfeit Reductil that were returned following the MHRA recall was 61. Each 10 mg box of 28 Reductil capsules is valued at £41.29 1 .
	The MHRA intelligence unit coordinates a comprehensive agency-wide anti-counterfeiting strategy to apply an array of measures to ensure that counterfeit medicines do not penetrate the UK medicines supply chain.
	This includes regular liaison with all stakeholders including Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and other law enforcement agencies on all manners of pharmaceutical crime. HMRC collaboration focuses on tackling importations of counterfeit medicines through its border controls. Another key area of such collaboration with HMRC includes joint meetings with the pharmaceutical industry to identify ways to collectively deal with counterfeit medicines.
	Educational aspects of the MHRA anti-counterfeiting strategy are primarily focussed on stakeholder education at a national and European level. The aim being to ensure that necessary procedures are in place throughout the supply chain to prevent counterfeit medicine penetration. Thus, a patient can confidently receive a safe, good quality and efficacious medicine through the regulated medicines supply chain.
	Educating patients to identify counterfeit medicines is considered counter-productive in that it could lead to the undermining of public confidence in the UK medicines distribution chain and perfectly safe treatment regimes. Also, potential checks by the public are likely to prove futile as most counterfeit medicines cannot be detected by the untrained eye and even trained personnel often have to rely on forensic laboratory testing to confirm counterfeits.
	The MHRA has launched an internet campaign to warn the public of the potential dangers involved with purchasing medicines over the internet where some, but not all, websites belong to unscrupulous vendors that sell counterfeit medicines. An education campaign is also being drafted to target those members of the public who purchase medicines through illicit means.
	1 Monthly Index of Medical Specialities (MIMS) June 2005

Dentistry

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost of providing NHS dentistry in Portsmouth was in each of the last five years; how the money was allocated; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Primary care provided by independent general dental practitioners (GDPs) forms the major element of national health service dental services. Most GDPs operate within the national terms of the general dental service (GDS), although some have opted to provide similar patient services under local contracts agreed with their primary care trust (PCT) as part of the recently introduced personal dental service (PDS). Under the GDS, the main costs are the individual treatment fees, including patient registration payments, payable to dentists. Under the PDS, dentists are usually paid a regular contract value for a defined level of NHS commitment. The gross cost of GDS fees and PDS contract payments in the area of the Portsmouth City PCT are shown in the table.
	The GDS is currently funded from a national non discretionary budget; local budgets are not allocated to specific areas, but payments are made purely in response to the treatment and service claims submitted by individual GDPs.
	Expenditure on community and hospital dental services is determined by the relevant local NHS body and expenditure on services in the Portsmouth area alone is not identifiable from data available centrally.
	
		Gross cost of GDS and PDS within the area of the Portsmouth City PCT £ million
		
			  Gross GDS dental fees Gross PDS payments Total 
		
		
			 2000–01 6.047 0 6.047 
			 2001–02 6.486 0 6.486 
			 2002–03 6.486 0 6.486 
			 2003–04 7.085 0 7.085 
			 2004–05 6.852 0.884 7.736 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Gross GDS fees include all adult and child treatment fees, continuing care and capitation payments, and commitment payments. Certain allowances and costs, such as reimbursement of business rates, seniority payments, and employers' superannuation contributions, are excluded.
	2. All costs are shown gross of any income contributed by dental charges payable by patients.
	3. Figures extracted from payment data held by the Dental Practice Board.

Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in the Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust area referred urgently with suspected breast cancer waited for more than two weeks for an out-patient appointment in each reporting period since January 2002; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The information is not available in the format requested. However, information is available by hospital trusts local to Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust and is shown in the table.
	
		Number of patients with an urgent referral for suspected breast cancer, by waiting times from referral to out-patients appointment, for hospitals in the Haringey Teaching PCT area.
		
			  Number waiting 14 days or less 
			  RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust RKE Whittington Hospital NHS Trust Total 
		
		
			 Reporting period 
			 2001–02 Q4 25 25 106 156 
			 2002–03 Q1 34 22 98 154 
			 2002–03 Q2 38 42 56 136 
			 2002–03 Q3 25 44 67 136 
			 2002–03 Q4 53 63 35 151 
			 2003–04 Q1 41 53 38 132 
			 2003–04 Q2 65 81 49 195 
			 2003–04 Q3 59 82 67 208 
			 2003–04 Q4 46 114 68 228 
			 2004–05 Q1 57 n/a 55 112 
			 2004–05 Q2 48 58 48 154 
			 2004–05 Q3 52 25 69 146 
			 2004–05 Q4 50 56 53 159 
		
	
	
		
			  Number waiting more than 14 days 
			  RAP North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust RKE Whittington Hospital NHS Trust Total 
		
		
			 Reporting period   
			 2001–02 Q4 0 1 25 26 
			 2002–03 Q1 3 0 24 27 
			 2002–03 Q2 1 1 14 16 
			 2002–03 Q3 0 0 0 0 
			 2002–03 Q4 0 0 0 0 
			 2003–04 Q1 0 0 0 0 
			 2003–04 Q2 0 0 0 0 
			 2003–04 Q3 2 0 1 3 
			 2003–04 Q4 0 1 0 1 
			 2004–05 Q1 0 n/a 0 0 
			 2004–05 Q2 1 1 0 2 
			 2004–05 Q3 0 0 0 0 
			 2004–05 Q4 0 0 0 0 
		
	
	n/a = not available
	Source:
	CWT-Db, Department of Health

Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients in the Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust area waited more than (a) three months, (b) six months, (c) nine months, (d) 12 months, (e) 15 months, (f) 18 months and (g) 24 months for (i) heart operations, (ii) cancer treatment and (iii) hip replacements in each year since 2000–01; and if she will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: The finished in-year admission episodes for patients who waited more than three months, six months, nine months, 12 months, 15 months, 18 months and 24 months for heart operations, cancer treatment and hip replacements in each year since 2000–01 for Whittington hospital national health service trust, Royal Free Hampstead NHS trust and North Middlesex University hospital NHS trust are shown in the tables.
	Royal Free Hampstead NHS trust is the only organisation with counts for heart operations in specified waiting time groupings, therefore the other trusts do not appear in table for heart operations.
	The total finished in-year admission episodes for each organisation and years is shown at the bottom of each table. These totals are not equal to the total of the breakdown for waiting time groupings specified in the question because the breakdown excludes counts for up to three months waiting. There are also entries with not known waiting time values in the data which are also excluded from the waiting time grouping breakdown.
	
		Counts of finished in-year admission episodesMain operative procedure heart operations (OPCS-4= K01-K71)NHS hospitals, England 2000–01 to 2003–04
		
			  Finished in-year admission episodes 
			 Waiting time grouping 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 
			 More than 3 up to 6 months 283 269 255 297 
			 More than 6 up to 9 months 67 152 204 215 
			 More than 9 up to 12 months 39 37 65 35 
			 More than 12 up to 18 months 25 13 6 11 
			 More than 18 up to 24 months 7 — 1 — 
			 More than 24 months — — — 1 
			 Total finished in-year admission episodes 1,114 1,169 1,096 1,042 
		
	
	
		Counts of finished in-year admission episodesPrimary diagnosis cancer (ICD-10=C00-D48)NHS hospitals, England 2000–01 to 2003–04
		
			  Finished in-year admission episodes 
			 Waiting time grouping 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS trust 
			 More than 3 up to 6 months 288 235 312 252 
			 More than 6 up to 9 months 89 82 51 64 
			 More than 9 up to 12 months 22 45 41 46 
			 More than 12 up to 18 months 16 27 33 21 
			 More than 18 up to 24 months 9 8 6 — 
			 More than 24 months 3 1 — 2 
			 Total finished in-year admission episodes 6,676 4,846 3,441 2,726 
			  
			 RAP North Middlesex University hospital NHS trust 
			 More than 3 up to 6 months 99 121 148 160 
			 More than 6 up to 9 months 41 53 44 71 
			 More than 9 up to 12 months 36 33 26 18 
			 More than 12 up to 18 months 25 30 11 7 
			 More than 18 up to 24 months 3 9 3 3 
			 More than 24 months 4 2 - 1 
			 Total finished in-year admission episodes 1,407 1,647 1,654 1,591 
			  
			 RKE Whittington hospital NHS trust 
			 More than 3 up to 6 months 120 132 113 129 
			 More than 6 up to 9 months 33 29 46 39 
			 More than 9 up to 12 months 16 17 21 13 
			 More than 12 up to 18 months 6 7 7 7 
			 More than 18 up to 24 months 2 — 1 1 
			 More than 24 months 2 — — — 
			 Total finished in-year admission episodes 1,572 1,429 2,436 2,336 
		
	
	
		Counts of finished in-year admission episodesMain operative procedure hip replacement (OPCS-4= W37-W39)NHS hospitals, England 2000–01 to 2003–04
		
			  Finished in-year admission episodes 
			 Waiting time grouping 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 RAL Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 
			 More than 3 up to 6 months 22 22 18 16 
			 More than 6 up to 9 months 20 15 11 29 
			 More than 9 up to 12 months 13 9 4 12 
			 More than 12 up to 18 months 6 27 21 5 
			 More than 18 up to 24 months — 5 — 1 
			 More than 24 months - - - 1 
			 Total finished in-year admission episodes 83 94 88 85 
			  
			 RAP North Middlesex University hospital NHS trust 
			 More than 3 up to 6 months 10 12 21 27 
			 More than 6 up to 9 months 6 11 14 17 
			 More than 9 up to 12 months 13 12 9 4 
			 More than 12 up to 18 months 9 19 14 6 
			 More than 18 up to 24 months 2 4 2 — 
			 More than 24 months 4 — 6 1 
			 Total finished in-year admission episodes 52 68 77 65 
			  
			 RKE Whittington hospital NHS trust 
			 More than 3 up to 6 months 36 37 43 22 
			 More than 6 up to 9 months 19 24 20 15 
			 More than 9 up to 12 months 18 10 25 47 
			 More than 12 up to 18 months 16 14 27 25 
			 More than 18 up to 24 months 3 2 4 6 
			 More than 24 months 1 1 3 4 
			 Total finished in-year admission episodes 135 121 145 139 
		
	
	Notes:
	Finished in-year admissions
	A finished in-year admission is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider, excluding admissions beginning before 1 April at the start of the data year. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	Diagnosis (Primary Diagnosis)
	The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (7 prior to 2002–03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.
	Main Operation
	The main operation is the first recorded operation in the HES data set and is usually the most resource intensive procedure performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main operation when looking at admission details, eg. time waited, but the figures for "all operations count of episodes" give a more complete count of episodes with an operation.
	Ungrossed Data
	Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
	Time Waited (days)
	Time waited statistics from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) are not the same as the published waiting list statistics. HES provides counts and time waited for all patients admitted to hospital within a given period whereas the published waiting list statistics count those waiting for treatment on a specific date and how long they have been on the waiting list. Also, HES calculates the time waited as the difference between the admission and decision to admit dates. Unlike published waiting list statistics, this is not adjusted for self-deferrals or periods of medical/social suspension.
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

London Hospitals (Budgets)

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget was of the (a) Whittington hospital, (b) Royal Free hospital Hampstead, (c) North Middlesex university hospital and (d) Haringey teaching primary care trust St. Ann's hospital in each of the last five years; and whether each hospital was (i) in deficit and (ii) had a surplus at each year end.

Jane Kennedy: The latest year for which audited data on the financial position of national health service organisations is available is 2003–04. The budget and financial position for Whittington hospital, Royal Free hospital Hampstead, North Middlesex university hospital and Haringey teaching primary care trust St. Ann's hospital which is part of the Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust, in each of the last five years is shown in the table.
	
		Total income and retained surplus/(deficit) for 1999–2000 to 2003–04 £ thousands
		
			 NHS Trust 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust:  
			 Income 81,485 85,941 99,084 105,099 110,694 
			 Surplus/(deficit) (1,433) 0 8 (988) (3,400) 
			   
			 Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust:  
			 Income 246,209 266,340 254,983 277,016 303,585 
			 Surplus/(deficit) (4,613) 1,866 5,216 (1,447) (961) 
			   
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust:  
			 Income 71,898 86,050 90,451 103,409 112,928 
			 Surplus/(deficit) (3,291) 6,206 0 0 (989) 
			   
			 Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust   
			 Income n/a n/a 119,598 131,456 144,424 
			 Surplus/(deficit) n/a n/a 4 (686) (924) 
		
	
	Note:
	Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust was not formed until 1 April 2001.
	Source:
	Audited summarisation schedules of the above NHS trusts, 1999–2000 to 2003–04.

Sexual Health

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will take steps to ensure that every (a) sexual health clinic and (b) accident and emergency department offers post-exposure prophylaxis to its users.

Caroline Flint: Primary care trusts are responsible for providing sexual health services, which meet the needs of their local populations. To support them in this role, the Department has worked with leading professional bodies to produce the recommended standards for national health service HIV services (2003). These highlight the need to make post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) available to those who need it.
	The decision on whether to offer PEP for the purposes of preventing HIV transmission should be taken by clinicians in consultation with the patient, and will depend upon the particular circumstances. The British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, and the Government's expert advisory group on AIDS (EAGA) have both published guidance to help clinicians and EAGA keep the evidence on the effectiveness of PEP under review.
	The Department has also funded the Terrence Higgins Trust to undertake a campaign to raise awareness of PEP among those at risk of non-occupational HIV transmission. Following a successful evaluation, this campaign will be rolled-out across the country.

Sterile Services Departments

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether inspection of sterile services departments forms part of the Healthcare Commission's performance ratings.

Jane Kennedy: In July 2004, the Department issued "Standards for Better Health", the first ever national standards for the national health service. The Healthcare Commission will be assessing and rating the NHS against these standards from 2005–06. Core standard four says that:
	"Health care organisations keep patients, staff and visitors safe by having systems to ensure that:
	the risk of health care acquired infection to patients is reduced, with particular emphasis on high standards of hygiene and cleanliness, achieving year on year reductions in methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus;
	all risks associated with the acquisition and use of medical devices are minimised;
	all reusable medical devices are properly decontaminated prior to use and that the risks associated with decontamination facilities and processes are well managed;
	medicines are handled safely and securely; and
	the prevention, segregation, handling, transport and disposal of waste is properly managed so as to minimise the risks to the health and safety of staff, patients, the public and the safety of the environment."